Puzzle Pieces
by DiehardJavaJunkie14
Summary: S6 AU fic. Luke tries to put the pieces of the JavaJunkie puzzle together after finding out about April's existence. How does she fit into their lives? JavaJunkie chapter fic.
1. Pensive Luke

**A/N: So this is my take on what would happen if the Hollywood writer's strike took place right after 6.09, "The Prodigal Daughter Returns". It's a contest submisson on FanLib, and I have decided to post it here before the submissions open. Enjoy! PS. Thanks to The Mrs.Ventimiglia for the beta!**

When the three arrived home, Luke went straight into the kitchen, still pondering the news he had to tell Lorelai. He made the chili fries Lorelai and Rory would surely request, and placed them on the table.

"Why don't you have a giant 'S' on your chest, Luke? Oy, you really are the most wonderful fiancé," Lorelai gushed.

Rory smiled. "I love the fiancé thing. It finally happened for you two. And I found out that you proposed, Mom, you went modern on him! I'm so excited! When's the big day? What don't I know about this wedding?"

"I'll fill you in later, when we can talk in secret. Oh, sweets, it's so good to have you back," Lorelai gushed, attacking the plate of chili fries Luke made in honor of Rory's homecoming.

Rory moved closer to her mom on the couch, leaning her head on Lorelai's shoulder. "It's good to BE back. I missed you!"

"I missed you more!" Lorelai countered.

"Hey, wait a second, I thought we decided that I missed YOU more!"

Luke rolled his eyes as he put cheeseburgers on the table for the two. "Haven't we had this exchange about six hundred times since Rory dropped her stuff in the living room?"

"Well, someone's Mr. Grumpy Pants tonight, and I'll give you two guesses as to who it is!" Lorelai said, raising her eyebrows.

Rory turned to her mom. "Why two guesses?"

Lorelai sighed. "My darling daughter, you must have really filled your brain with mush while you were away! The first one doesn't count, of course!" she teased, tossing a piece of popcorn in the air and attempting to let it land in her mouth.

"Nice work!" Rory said, tossing her own piece of popcorn in the air. She giggled and squinted when it landed on her nose.

"I'm betting the DAR didn't promote this kind of behavior. Unless the Revolutionary War soldiers did this for fun," Lorelai mused. She saw Luke sitting on the steps, obviously agitated. She groaned. "I'll be right back. Don't go anywhere, okay, babe?"

Rory smiled. "I'll never let go, Jack! I'll never let go!" she said dramatically, erupting into a fit of giggles on the couch.

Lorelai walked to the stairs, her hands shoved deep in the pockets of her jeans. "Okay, look, I know you're not upset Rory's home. That's humanly impossible, because I told you that once things were straightened out with Rory, we'd get married. Things are straight as an arrow, so what's wrong?"

Luke stood up. "Nothing that can't wait until after the celebration to discuss. Sorry I'm being anti social," he said.

Lorelai raised an eyebrow. "You sure you're all right?"

He nodded. "Go eat your chili fries, popcorn, red vines, and all the other things that will surely clog your arteries."

"So romantic!" Lorelai gushed, giving Luke a peck on the lips and skipping into the living room.

Lorelai plopped herself down on the couch again, reaching for the red vines. Rory grabbed her arm. "Mom? You and Luke can talk if you need to."

"He says it can wait, so it can wait. My suspense mechanism has been turned on, but I'm trusting him. What should we watch? I'm thinking 'Ferris Bueller's Day Off'. I'm in an 80's mood," Lorelai mused.

"How about 'The Breakfast Club'?" Rory countered.

Lorelai jumped up from the couch. "Well, then, if you want to spend your Saturday in detention, that's fine with me!"

Rory watched Lorelai go through the box of DVD's she had obviously created while Rory was gone. Then she turned to Luke, who still sat on the bottom stair. She got off of the couch and walked over to him. "This seat taken?" she asked, bringing him out of his reverie.

"Huh? No, no, sit," Luke replied.

"Something bothering you?" Rory asked, taking a seat next to Luke.

Luke shook his head. "Don't worry about me, I'll be fine."

"You haven't moved from this spot since we got home," Rory pointed out.

"I'm really okay. I'm just going to… make some dinner for myself. Do you want anything else?" he asked, obviously avoiding the subject.

Rory shook her head. "I'm fine, thanks. We have enough junk food in there to open our own candy store."

"Well, you'd have to get a permit first," Luke reasoned.

Rory giggled. "True. Well, I think Mom found the movie, based on the little victory dance she's doing in the living room."

"Enjoy," Luke said, watching her walk back to the living room. He watched as Lorelai and Rory made their way through the movie for what had to be the millionth time. Everything was perfect… Lorelai and Rory were making amends, Lorelai was happier than he'd ever seen her before, and Lorelai was in the mood to plan a wedding. He'd hate to bring things to a screeching halt with the news he had for her.

He ran all the different possibilities through his head. Knowing Anna, April wouldn't always be around. But he could picture her on the couch with Lorelai and Rory. But Lorelai had to know about April's existence before that could happen, he convinced himself. He wasn't going to keep this from her… after all, the guilt would surely get to be too much. Before he realized, Lorelai squeezed herself next to him on the step, taking off his baseball cap and twisting his hair around.

"You're not okay," Lorelai whispered. "I know when people are okay, and I know when they're not. You are the case study for 'not okay'."

Luke turned to face Lorelai. "You're finished with the movie already?"

Lorelai nodded. "Rory was tired, and I know something's wrong. I know you. You're overly pensive tonight, and that's not a good sign. Spill, Luke."

He shrugged. "Well, I can be pensive if I want to, can't I?"

"Sure. Just tell me what's wrong and then we can be pensive together. Remember, no secrets," Lorelai said, taking Luke's hand and leading him upstairs. She sat on the bed, looking at him, a concerned expression on her face. "What's wrong?"

Luke sighed. "I don't really know… how to tell you something like this."

"You open your mouth, words come out, I react," Lorelai said, her concern growing. "Just tell me. I hate seeing you upset and I want to fix it, okay? Just tell me, get on with it. Because right now, I'm nervous for you, and I'm worried about you, and I don't want to be upset tonight. All I could think about during the movie was what could possibly be wrong! And I couldn't even enjoy this night, Luke!"

"Well, I wasn't really going to just tell you my problems when you're having a perfectly fantastic night! Seriously, why rain on your parade when things are going so well?" he responded, frustrated.

"Because I care. Luke, just tell me, before this gets bigger than it needs to be!" Lorelai said, tears running down her cheeks. "I don't want to fight about this."

"Neither do I, Lorelai!"

She sniffed. "Then just TELL ME!"

Luke threw his hands in the air. "This isn't something that you just tell someone when you're potentially in the middle of a fight!"

Lorelai took a deep breath. "I'm sorry I jumped. I'm just worried about you, is that a crime?"

"No."

"Then just tell me what's wrong, I'm listening. I'm not going anywhere," Lorelai promised.

"I have a daughter."


	2. One Crazy Puzzle

Lorelai sat, staring at Luke, a blank expression on her face. She finally sniffed and wiped her eyes. "You what?" she choked.

"I have a daughter. I didn't know until… ah, jeez, this is going to be really hard to explain," Luke answered.

Lorelai crossed her arms. "Well, explain as best you can, because right now, I'm still trying to process what you just told me."

"So I was in the diner a few days ago. This girl in a freakishly large and crazy looking bike helmet comes into the diner and yanks a hair out of my head. She says she's doing a science fair project or something, and that I am one of three men that could possibly be her father. Apparently her project was to find out who is her father. So I find out when this science fair is, and I go. And I look at the poster, and there's a terrible picture of me. I'm her dad."

"So when did you… how… gah, I don't know what to say!"

Luke took Lorelai's hand. "Her name is April, she's twelve. Her mother is Anna Nardini. Frankly, Anna would never be my type in reality, but it was a blind date, and I felt obligated to go."

"And have sex with her?" Lorelai asked, wiping her tears with her sleeve, pulling her hand out of Luke's.

Luke shook his head. "No, no, nothing like that. I got to know her throughout the night, and we went out a few times after that… and we were only together once, and that was a total misjudgment on my part, even thinking about being with her. I'm assuming she seemed to remember my now famous 'jam hands' rant, and declined to tell me about April, even if she wasn't sure she was mine."

"So remind me again how we found out this girl is your daughter?" Lorelai asked.

"She did a DNA test. Well, her uncle did. Or something."

Lorelai took a deep breath. "Well, the first thing you should do is get a real test. I know she's done one already… but you should do another one. Well, you shouldn't, and neither should she… submit a sample."

"Okay," Luke said, thankful that she wasn't blowing up at him for the decision he made one night twelve years ago, before he and Lorelai were even close to being a couple.

"Second, you should get in touch with this Anna person. Because you're going to want to be a part of this girl's life, right? I mean, that's the only thing you would really do in this kind of a situation. Well, you could just ignore her, but that's not going to work, and you're not…" she took a deep breath. "Why didn't you tell me when she mentioned that she could be your kid?"

Luke sighed. "Simple. I didn't want to worry you. And I told you now because I don't want this to hold up things between us."

"Well, as well thought out as that was, Luke, things are going to change between us! Because April's a part of your life, she's also a part of mine. And Rory's. And that's going to change the dynamic, Luke. It's not as simple as sliding April in there like she's always been around. You have to get used to being a father, Luke, and that's not easy, either!" Lorelai said, sniffing again.

"I know, I know. Trust me, I've already screwed up a few times. And I've known I was her dad for a day."

"You need to fix this, Luke," Lorelai said, grabbing at her sleeve. "And I'll help you, but you have to promise me something."

"Anything," Luke replied.

"You let me be a part of this little girl's life."

Luke sighed. "So you're not angry?"

She shrugged. "I'm not angry, I'm just… slightly caught off guard here. This isn't the kind of news you process in five minutes. And since she's a part of you, Luke, that means that I… already care about her."

"Okay. You need some time?"

Lorelai nodded. "Yeah."

"What can I do?" Luke asked.

"Well, for starters, get things fixed with Anna. Tomorrow. If I were you, I'd file for custody, or some sort of agreement that lets you share her with Anna. You need to get to know your kid, Luke, but I want to be a part of your life while you do," Lorelai reasoned. "I won't jump in all the time, but I want to know that…"

Luke nodded. "I understand."

Lorelai let out a nervous laugh. "Well, that was awfully awkward. So now I know. And you know. And we all know. Except Rory, but we'll tell her. Uh, so know that everyone knows… how do you feel?"

"Well… I feel… uh, better, that you know," Luke replied. "But I don't know about this dad thing. It's really weird already. I don't know anything about kids in general, let alone my own kid."

She put her hand on his shoulder, sniffling again. "Well, I'll help you. I think we're all still in the processing stage. This is some sort of crazy puzzle we all have to figure out how to put together."

"Yeah, processing," Luke replied absently.

Lorelai got up and walked to the bathroom, grabbing a few tissues. She wiped away the mascara streaks that were left on her cheeks, and came back into the bedroom. "So is that all?" she asked.

Luke nodded. "That's all."

"Okay. Well, I'm kind of… mentally and emotionally drained, so…"

Luke nodded. "Yeah, right, I'll let you go to sleep," he said, standing up and making his way out of the bedroom.

"Come join me when you're tired," Lorelai offered.

Luke turned around and leaned against the doorframe. "Really?"

"Yeah. I mean, I told you I wasn't mad at you, didn't I?"

He cleared his throat. "Uh, yeah, you did, I just wasn't sure…"

"We're okay, Luke. It's going to be weird for awhile, but we're okay. It happened twelve years ago, we can't change that. Letting me know about it was the right thing to do."

"I'll be up in a little while," Luke answered with a nod.

She gave him a small smile. "Okay. Hurry, because the bed gets cold if you're not here."

"Okay." He turned out the light and walked downstairs. He made his way into the kitchen and grabbed a beer from the refrigerator, sitting at the kitchen table. He opened the can and took a sip. Paul Anka nudged at his feet, placing his head on top of them. Luke looked down at the dog and sighed. "I guess I'm not going anywhere for a little while," he reasoned.

Luke finished his beer and, as gracefully as he could, slipped his feet out from underneath Paul Anka's chin. He walked upstairs to find the bedroom light still on and Lorelai writing on a pad of paper. "What are you doing?" he asked. "I thought you were going to bed."

"I was, and then I thought of all the things you should get to know about April… you know, little things that you may not think of because you're so nervous. You have twelve years to catch up on, and you need to get to know important things first," Lorelai rambled. "So this is what I came up with, and I still think there are some things missing." She handed him the list, and he kicked off his boots, taking the list and sitting on the bed beside her.

"'What's April's favorite color?'" Luke read.

Lorelai nodded. "Yeah. I mean, if she likes pink, we can paint one of the add on rooms pink. Or if she likes sunshine yellow, that could work. Maybe she's a purple girl. You never know until you ask. And her favorite color says a lot about her personality, too, like if she likes pink, she's usually a girly girl."

"She loves science, from what I've gathered," Luke offered.

Lorelai shook her head. "Not a pink girl, then. Definitely a blue or a green."

"Okay, then, 'When is April's birthday'?"

"Yeah, well, you need to know her birthday. You probably have an idea around what month, but of course you'll need to have birthday parties for her. I can help you with that. You know how I party," Lorelai explained.

"You do party," Luke replied. "And she was born in April. Ironic as it is."

Lorelai scrunched up her nose. "No offense to April, the girl, but that could be potentially confusing. And I bet she's gotten made fun of for that."

"'Where does April go to school?'"

Lorelai sighed. "Well, naturally, you need to know where she goes to school…"

Luke leaned in and kissed Lorelai. After a brief moment, she pulled away. "Uh, what was that for?"

"For being supportive. Even though you're still comprehending. Thank you."

Lorelai nodded. "Just don't screw it up, okay?" she asked, turning off the lamp beside her. "Night."

"Good night," Luke said, crawling under the covers with her, feeling a little better about everything that went on.


	3. Help, Cecil, Help!

**A/N: The only excuse I have for this story being so neglected is that my muse is very, very picky. Please enjoy, and feedback is appreciated.**

Luke woke up the next morning as Lorelai rolled out of bed. He stayed there for awhile, the events of the day before coming back. He finally rubbed his eyes and sat up, and made his way downstairs when he heard voices.

He stopped at the top stair, knowing better than to interfere with a mother-daughter only conversation. He smiled, remembering the Lorelai's comment in the diner a few years before. Apparently it was an "AB" conversation and she would "C" him later. Or something like that.

Lorelai emerged from the kitchen, coffee in hand. She sat down next to Rory, taking a sip of coffee.

Rory smiled, turning to face Lorelai. "Sleeping Beauty is awake!"

"Mmm."

"It was nice to sleep in my own bed! I missed this place so much during our…"

"Fight?" Lorelai supplied.

"Have I apologized to you yet today? Because I'm really sorry," Rory said.

Lorelai gave a half smile. "Really, it's okay. It's all water under the metaphorical bridge, hon."

Rory looked at Lorelai. "You seem too quiet this morning, what's up?"

"Rough night," Lorelai moaned.

Rory raised her eyebrows. "Yeah, staying up late for… purposes I really don't want to mention at this moment or ever again is so very tough."

Lorelai shook her head. "Luke and I had a 'discussion' last night, and Luke decided it was time to reveal a piece of earth shattering news to me."

Rory put the remote down on the arm of the couch and repositioned herself on the couch. "Oh, wow, is everything okay? Is something wrong?" she asked, a concerned tone in her voice.

"Well," Lorelai said, taking another sip of coffee for some energy to tell the story, "He's fine, but he has a kid."

Luke put his head in his hands. He knew Rory would find out eventually, but he also realized he'd be getting Lorelai's true opinion on the whole situation, no holding back. After a long pause, Luke was glad to finally hear Rory break the silence.

"Okay, where's Allen Funt?" she asked.

Lorelai shrugged. "I wish it were candid camera. She's twelve, her name is April. Luke just found out, and April's mother seems to have kept the possibility of April being Luke's a secret. April did a DNA test on her own to figure it all out."

Rory cleared her throat. "Wow… that's… wow."

"I had a similar reaction, yes."

"Luke has a daughter?"

Lorelai simply nodded and took a sip of coffee.

"Wow. Uh, are you okay? I mean, you two? Well, you, individually, and you as a couple?" Rory stuttered.

Luke looked up, interested in her answer. He wringed his hands together, preparing himself for her answer.

"Us as a couple? A little awkward, but we're good. I'm just… still figuring it out. All of a sudden, I get word that Luke has a daughter, who will be my stepdaughter, your stepsister. It's all so… new. He told me, which I appreciate, and we can't change what he did twelve years ago, you know?" Lorelai reasoned.

Luke took a deep breath and let it out. He was no longer worried about Lorelai's opinion. The fact that she was using the words 'stepdaughter' and 'stepsister' in what she said spoke volumes to him. He ran his fingers through his hair, listening to the rest of the conversation.

"You guys are really going to be okay?" Rory asked.

"I think so. I told him that he better not screw it up, or he's going to end up in the doghouse with Paul Anka," Lorelai mused. "And I'm going to do whatever I can to help, but the only issue is finding the balance between helping too much and helping enough."

Rory moved over on the couch and hugged Lorelai. "You sound like you have a plan. That's good. And you know, it's really selfless of you to be so supportive."

"I just hope it all goes the way it's supposed to, you know? I don't want it falling apart and blowing up in our faces. This is the kind of stuff that can break couples up… I don't want to be like them, I don't! I just want to be really supportive and give him the space he needs, and all the advice he needs."

"I understand. And I'm sure he appreciates it," Rory replied.

Taking a deep breath, Lorelai reached for the remote. "Okay, I don't want to ruin your morning with my predicament, so let's watch some goofy show and get our minds off of it."

"You got it, dude," Rory teased, turning up the volume on the TV.

Lorelai and Rory sat on the couch, staring at the TV, but obviously not watching, until Rory broke the silence. "So are you going to meet April? Okay, that was a dumb question. Let me rephrase that. When are you going to meet April? When am I going to meet April?"

Lorelai sighed. "I'm not sure, kid."

Luke put his head in his hands, realizing that arranging a meeting between the two (or three, including Rory) would have to happen soon. He walked down the stairs, and Lorelai turned around to see what was going on, and he ended just stood in the entryway.

"Luke? You look upset, are you okay?" Lorelai asked.

"I don't know what I'm going to do. I wasn't ready for this, obviously, it just kind of… happened. Then I realized that there's going to be lots of issues between me and Anna. Knowing Anna, she's going to do everything possible to make this transition completely miserable. I was thinking about talking to a lawyer, like you suggested, but I don't even know if my lawyer does stuff like this. He helps me with business arrangements, not getting partial custody of my kid that I just found out I had!" Luke ranted.

Lorelai got up from the couch. "Well, there's only one thing to do, in my humble opinion."

"You're going to help me?" Luke asked, his eyes wide with surprise.

"No need to yell 'help, Cecil, help' because to stay with the reference, 'I'm coming Beanie boy'."

Luke scratched his head. "What?"

"I'm getting dressed, we have to make a trip," Lorelai said. "I'll be down faster than you can spell supercalafragilisticexpialidocious"

Luke turned to Rory and let out a sigh. "Did your mom explain this whole situation to you?" he asked, trying to act natural to avoid letting the fact that he was listening slip.

Rory nodded. "Yeah. And she told me she really wants to help you however she can. And I know she means it."

"Yeah, I do, too." He paused. "She won't be down for a little while, will she?" Luke asked, taking a seat.

Rory shrugged. "Depends on how good of a speller you are," she teased, handing him the remote.

"It'll be awhile," Luke grumbled, taking the remote from Rory's hand. "I wish she'd tell me what was going on."

"Just trust her. She's going to help you," Rory said, trying to be encouraging. "And if you need help in the uh… you know, gift giving department, I'm also very good at that. I'll help if you need it, too."

Luke smiled. "Thanks. I didn't mean to spoil your homecoming."

"Well, it's no big deal. I don't feel neglected." Rory said with a smile.

Lorelai came running down the stairs, adjusting her purple button down blouse on the way. "Ready?" she asked.

"You're awfully dressed up." Luke pointed out.

"You will be, in a minute, too. Let's go, mister, upstairs. Rory, when I get back, we'll watch the movie with the heat miser and the cold miser. We'll have Red Vines and Yodels, and have the age old debate about who would win in a battle of the misers. Okay?" Lorelai asked.

Rory smiled. "Take your time, I'm still formulating good arguments on the heat miser."

Lorelai smiled, directing Luke up the stairs. "Go, go, shoo. We need to get you changed."

"Where are we going?" he grumbled, walking upstairs.

Lorelai pulled the bedroom door shut and gathered her hair into a ponytail. "No questions. I'm trying to help you here, and desperate times call for desperate measures. Now, get dressed. Fancy." she insisted.


	4. Complications

Luke emerged from upstairs, following Lorelai until she stopped suddenly at the bottom of the stairs. Lorelai smiled as she turned around to look at Luke. "Well, hello, there handsome," she purred.

"Uh, remember you were going to help me? It's Sunday, what the heck are we getting dressed up for?" Luke asked.

Lorelai shrugged. "You'll see. Come on, get in the Jeep, copperboom!"

"Copperboom?" Luke asked, confused.

She ushered him out the door. "I'll explain after we get this over with, now come on."

Luke obliged, getting in the Jeep and buckling his seatbelt. He looked absently out the passenger window, lost in his own thoughts, until Lorelai finally turned the car off. Luke turned to Lorelai. "What the…"

"I know, I know, Luke, 'why did you bring me to Emily and Richard's house?' Well, the answer's simple. They know a lot of lawyers, and you need a good one. Neither one of us knows what to do, and I'm so…" she took a deep breath and closed her eyes. "I just want to help, and I'm going to do anything that takes. Even this. Okay?"

Luke sighed, opening the door and getting out of the Jeep. "You do realize they're going to hold this against me, right? And then they're not going to like you very much, and that could be bad. Are you sure?"

Lorelai took the ponytail holder out of her hair, smoothing out her curls. "You're awfully worried, and they're not even your parents."

"They'll be my in laws at some point," Luke grumbled.

"Well, it's better that you give them the impression that you're wanting to do something about it, right? I think they'll respect that part of this situation."

Luke shoved his hands in his pockets, letting out a nervous sigh. "Fine. Are you sure you want to be indebted to them again? I mean, I need the help, but I'm sure I could do something on my own tomorrow."

"Luke," Lorelai said, holding up her hand. "Let me help you. You told me you would, now stick to your word, all right? Jeez."

He waited as Lorelai apologized to the maid for showing up unannounced, and followed her inside. He handed the maid his coat and walked into the living room with Lorelai, where Emily and Richard were sitting, waiting.

"Lorelai, Luke, this is a surprise," Richard said, looking up from his newspaper.

Lorelai let out a nervous laugh. "Yeah, we've been getting a lot of those lately. Look, Mom, Dad, we need your help. Do you have some time?"

Emily nodded. "I suppose we should discuss this over lunch. I'll ask Violet how long we should expect to wait," she said. "VIOLET?"

Lorelai sighed. "I apologize for showing up unannounced, but I figured we should get this resolved as soon as possible."

Richard folded his newspaper and stood up to shake Luke's hand. "May I ask what's troubling you?"

"Your meal is ready," Violet announced, disappearing into the dining room.

Richard put a hand on Luke's shoulder. "That was awfully fast. We'll discuss it over some turkey. Do you like turkey, Luke?"

"Sure," Luke replied.

"Good, then we'll have a nice lunch and discuss what's on your mind," Richard said, a little too calmly for Luke.

The four were seated at the table, and Emily turned her attention to Lorelai not long after they began to eat their meal. "Now, what is this trouble you're having? Last I was aware, you were financially stable with Christopher covering the costs of Yale. And I mentioned the potential risks of opening your own inn before…"

"We're not in financial trouble, mother," Lorelai huffed. "This is more… Luke needs a really good lawyer."

Emily looked at Luke. "Are you in some sort of legal trouble, Luke? Lorelai, honestly…"

"Whoa, Mom, way to lay that one on me!" Lorelai shot back defensively.

Luke shook his head. "No, no, I'm not in any legal trouble. I just found out… that I have a twelve year old daughter. Her mother and I were never very serious, and she kept April, my daughter, from me for all of this time. So, I'm trying to step up and take responsibility, and I'd like to speak to someone about where to go from here."

Emily and Richard glanced at each other from across the table. Richard shoveled a bite of turkey in his mouth, surely giving him time to think, and Emily placed her silverware down on her plate, a sign that she was about to explode.

"You have a daughter?" Emily asked.

Luke cleared his throat nervously. "Yes."

"I see. Well. I suppose that is something you two have in common…" Emily started in a haughty tone.

"Mom, that wasn't fair!" Lorelai interrupted. "That's two rude comments in the past five seconds. We come here, to include you and ask for your guidance, yet you go ahead and hang us out to dry!"

"Lorelai," Richard warned.

"Dad, no. I'm trying to stick up for myself, and for Luke and April. Okay? Now Luke warned me that you two might do this, but I decided to come here anyway, because I love Luke and I want him to be able to get to know his daughter. And of course, being the dummy that I am, I thought you would help us out. But if you two are going to act like this, then forget I even asked," Lorelai said, the tone in her voice getting angrier.

Emily rolled her eyes. "Ah, yes, once again, we should have made you a child star, because your ability to act in a dramatic way would be perfect for show business."

Lorelai looked to Luke for some guidance, but Luke sat, watching what went on like it was a tennis match. "Luke?"

"What?" Luke asked. "I asked for her help."

"Unbelievable," Lorelai said, shaking her head and throwing her napkin onto her chair. She walked out of the dining room and into the foyer, grabbing her coat and walking outside.

"Lorelai, honestly, must you be so dramatic?" Emily asked, following her daughter into the foyer.

"Look, Mom, we never should have come here for your help, okay? Come on, Luke, let's go," Lorelai insisted.

Luke looked at Emily, then at Richard, and Lorelai, her arms crossed and her foot tapping at the door. He took a deep breath and politely excused himself from the table. "I'm really sorry," he said. He took his coat and quietly followed Lorelai to the Jeep, fearing what was going to happen next.


	5. Barker's Beauties and Vanna White

Lorelai got in the Jeep and slammed the door shut. She drove the entire way back to Stars Hollow without saying a word. She got out of the Jeep and walked into the house, heading straight upstairs. Luke followed her upstairs, only to be greeted by the slam of the bathroom door in his face. He sat on Lorelai's bed, rubbing his temples. This wasn't going to go well.

He heard her sniffle through the door a few times, and he decided he'd knock. It was the only way he'd get a feeling for how angry she was, and who she was angry with. He knocked on the door and heard a groan as the door opened. He took one look at the mascara on her cheeks and he immediately felt terrible.

"What?" she hissed.

"Can we talk?" he pleaded.

"Does now look like it's a time to talk? According to my Ecclesiastes, there's time for lots of other things."

Luke cleared his throat. "Are you angry at me?"

Lorelai closed the tissue in her fist tighter as she looked at him. She looked down and sighed, opening the door a little more to allow him inside the bathroom. "Look, Luke, you didn't stand up for us in there."

"I needed their help, Lorelai, what am I supposed to do?"

She sniffed. "I don't know, just a little help would be nice. I hate to see you just sitting there, letting them eat away at you, when all you're trying to do is be a father to this little girl! And you know, I thought you'd stand up for yourself this time. You've been able to do it before, why not now?"

"I didn't know what would make them angry," Luke said softly. "I didn't want to blow it. With you or with them. And apparently I blew it with you while trying not to blow it."

She shook her head. "No, no, Luke, you didn't blow it," she said, her voice cracking as more tears fell. "You didn't. I just… you didn't stand up for yourself in there and I started to think about all the things that could possibly go wrong. What if this Anna person doesn't let April come and visit us? What then? What if she doesn't like me?"

Luke patted the edge of the tub and Lorelai sat down next to him. "I'm just as scared as you are. I didn't want your parents to hold this against you, I didn't want them to think I was a moron who couldn't take care of my own kid."

"You've been great to Rory over the years, Luke, I just want you to stand up for yourself and tell people that you're going to have this little girl in your life. She deserves a guy like you as a dad."

He gave a half smile and pulled her close. "I'm glad someone has faith in me," he said.

Lorelai pulled back. "Plenty of people have faith in you, Luke. And I know you know you're going to do a great job. But start showing it, okay? I can't be your Vanna White all the time, showing you off and smiling, waiting for the letters to light up. Or in the 80's it was turning the letters. You've got to give me a hint at which ones to turn or press!"

Luke laughed. "You're not Vanna White. I'd prefer Barker's Beauty. A little sexier, the merchandise doesn't really matter in the long run…"

Lorelai laughed, wiping her eyes. "You're such a dirty boy," she teased.

"Are we okay?" he asked.

She nodded. "Just promise me you're going to replace Pod Luke with Predatory Luke? You know, the one who's willing to kill for anyone he loves at any time? I kind of miss him."

"I promise. So do you think your parents will still get us a connection?" Luke asked.

Lorelai smiled. "If you're willing to be roped into Friday Night Dinner almost every week, I'm sure they could arrange it. They'll want to meet April, and I'm sure they'll want to throw her parties… are you sure you want this?"

"If it means being able to see my kid, yeah, I do," Luke insisted.

"Maybe you don't need a lawyer. Maybe you and Anna can work this out without a big fight?" Lorelai asked.

"Ideally, that's how it would go. But knowing Anna, she won't allow it."

Lorelai scrunched up her nose. "She sounds vile."

Luke shrugged. "She's… set in her ways. Stubborn. You know, a lot like you."

"I'm stubborn, but the only difference is that Christopher did stupid things all of his life, bailing on Rory… I had to protect her somehow."

Luke put his arm around Lorelai. "Do you want me to go see her?"

"It may save you some money," she quipped. "Try that first. See if it works out. And then we'll go from there."

He kissed her forehead and sighed. "I just have a bad feeling about this."

"Instinct takes over, huh? Had a feeling you always had it," Lorelai teased.

"Not really instinct, I just… I know Anna. And I don't want to screw this up before I got a chance to do any good," Luke insisted.

"You don't have to do this on your own," Lorelai insisted. "I get that some things are necessary to do all on your own, but… I'm here. Don't clam up on me, okay?"

Luke nodded. "I won't."

"Promise?"

"Yes, Lorelai, I promise," Luke repeated.

"Should I make you pinky swear?" she asked, sniffling.

He shook his head. "I don't think that's necessary."

"How about seal it with a kiss? Can you handle that one?" she teased.

He leaned in and gave her a peck on the lips. "How was that?"

She smiled. "Not bad."

"Go watch your movie. I know you took the cold miser side of this issue, and if you need one argument, the only argument I can give you is that water puts out fire. And water is cold. Otherwise, you're pretty much screwed by choosing the cold miser because of snow."

"How did you know I chose it because of snow?" she asked, wiping her eyes.

"Because you're you," Luke pointed out, pulling her off of the edge of the bathtub. "Go have fun."

She smiled. "Okay. Sorry I got mad."

"Sorry I didn't stick up for myself," he said.

He watched as Lorelai made her way downstairs and sat next to Rory on the couch. All he could do was picture April in between them. He knew he had to talk to Anna.


	6. All of a Sudden

The next morning, Luke was the one to shut off Lorelai's alarm. She hadn't moved a muscle, and it had been going off for two minutes already. She really must have been exhausted. He pressed the "off" button and gently rubbed her shoulder. "Lorelai?"

"Mmm," she replied.

"Did you hear the alarm?" Luke asked.

"Mmm."

"Were you ignoring it?"

"Mmm."

Luke sat up. "And you thought I was monosyllabic. I'll make you some coffee."

"Coffee?" she asked, her eyes opening. "It's Sunday, why did my alarm go off?"

Luke sighed. "It's not Sunday, Lorelai, it's Monday morning."

"Bed. Need sleep. No work today. Night," she said, rolling over and going back to sleep.

He kissed her forehead and pulled himself out of bed. He figured he'd let her sleep for a little while, they could manage at the inn without her. He couldn't think about anything but what Lorelai said the previous day, about talking to Anna.

Maybe it would work… maybe Anna had changed since he saw her last? And maybe she hadn't. There was only one way to find out. And that would be to go to the store. His 'rational side' insisted that he avoid going anywhere near the store, but his temper told him otherwise. And then logic took over and mixed the two.

Luke supposed that he should make his way to Anna's store to have a talk with her. At least, he'd heard she had a store, that's what the phone book said. He pulled on his blue flannel shirt that he had tossed onto the floor the night before and buttoned it over his T-shirt. He drove his truck to what he was hoping was Anna's store.

He took a deep breath and walked in, not knowing what else to do. Sitting outside and waiting wasn't going to do him any good, so going in was the best option. He shoved his hands in his pockets nervously, not really knowing what he was going to say or do. He caught a glimpse of Anna at the counter, organizing receipts. She looked up as he cleared his throat.

"Luke," she said, a tone of surprise in her voice.

"Hi, Anna. You seem… surprised to see me," he replied with a heavy sigh.

She shrugged. "April said you might stop by at some point. I wasn't really expecting you so soon, but then again… I figured you'd stop by."

"You didn't say anything once you knew April knew?" Luke asked, still trying to make sense of the situation.

"I never thought to tell you. Well, I did, but I thought I was doing what was best, leaving you to have your own life, and me to have mine. You hated kids, Luke."

"Don't try to defend yourself now, it's already done. Nothing you can say is going to change my mind. I already have my opinion on all of this," Luke muttered.

She sighed, putting her work on the counter. "I'm really sorry, Luke. I didn't think you'd really…"

Luke crossed his arms. "I'm not sure if you know this, Anna, but I am a guy who takes responsibility for his actions. I would have stepped up," he said, obviously upset, but holding back just a little to avoid losing his temper.

"Well, I know that now," Anna responded, slightly annoyed. "Your attitude back then told me you couldn't care less."

He rolled his eyes. "Okay, let's stop this. This is getting really stupid. You have your reasons, for keeping April from me, and I have my thoughts on that. We're never going to agree on that, so I guess we just agree to disagree. But one thing I want is to have time with April. I want to get to know her."

"Luke, you can't just come in here, expecting to be a part of my daughter's life…"

"Our. Our daughter's life," Luke corrected.

Anna sighed. "Our daughter's life… all of a sudden. This is just as weird for me and for her as it is for you."

"She's our kid, Anna. I deserve to be a part of her life. I have twelve years to catch up on."

"Just give me some time, Luke…" Anna protested. "And…"

Luke snorted. "Time? No, that's not fair to me, either. You've had plenty of time. I think we need to work this out right away. That's the best way to do it, rip off the band aid as fast as possible."

"Look, Luke, I realize that you want to get to know April, which is fine, but you can't just come in here…"

"And care all of a sudden? Well, here's a hint for you, I do care. She's my kid, too," Luke insisted.

Anna walked around the counter and leaned against the front, crossing her arms in an obviously agitated state. "This is new for me, too, Luke. I haven't had to share her with anyone before."

"Well, if you share her with anyone, I deserve to be the one you share her with. Look, we can figure this out really easily, we can work it out without getting angry at each other, for April's sake," Luke reasoned. "I'm willing to bend a little if you are."

Anna shook her head. "Luke, this isn't the time. Really, like I said… give me some time, and I'm sure..."

"Yeah, okay, I'll give you some time. But you'll be hearing from my lawyer," Luke insisted, realizing the gravity of what he said after he said it.

"Fine, if that's how you want to approach this, mister 'we can work it out on our own'," Anna huffed. "I suggest you leave," she said.

"I agree," Luke said, the words he had said still playing over and over in his head. He opened the door and got in his truck, slamming the door. Did he really just say that? He must have been dreaming. He just got himself into something he really wasn't planning on starting with Anna unless it was absolutely necessary. He put the key into the ignition, letting out a heavy sigh. _Here we go,_ he thought.

He walked into the Crap Shack, and no one was home. He drove to the inn, realizing that Lorelai was still at work. He opened the door and Michel conveniently slipped into the kitchen area. Luke crossed his arms and let out a sigh.

Lorelai emerged from the kitchen. "Hey, what's wrong? Your vein's doing that thing again."

"Can we talk in private?" he asked.

She nodded, bringing him back to her office. "What's wrong? Spill your guts."

"I just told Anna she'd be hearing from my nonexistent lawyer. Why would I say something so stupid, Lorelai? I just got myself in a huge hole. What…"

Lorelai put her arm on his. "Okay, you head to the diner, flip some burgers to calm down, and we'll take care of this later. I promise. When you're less upset."

"We can't just let…"

She nodded. "We can. Anna's not going to lock April in a tower between now and then, okay? Let's just calm down. Head over to work, maybe even have Caesar take over for you for a little while so you can just collect yourself? I promise, we'll work it all out, okay?"

He nodded. "Okay," he said, taking a deep breath. He kissed her and walked out of the office, standing by the office door as he thought through the events of the past hour. He heard Lorelai's voice and his curiosity took over.

"Hey, Mom, listen, hear me out. I know I was really rude to you and dad yesterday, and I called to apologize. But Luke's in a really big mess right now, and I was wondering if you'd still be willing to help us?"

Luke smiled, knowing that Lorelai really would do anything in her power to help him out. Even after a blowup with her parents, who she never got along with… even after his lack of ability to know where to go next… she was still willing to help him.

Somehow, since he was still processing the idea that he had a daughter, he thought that this should be much more painful. But he was suddenly glad that he had Lorelai to help him out. It wasn't like he was helpless, but it was a load off his mind to have someone to share his fears with.

"Thank you, Mom. I appreciate it… yes, I'll tell Luke, tomorrow afternoon in Hartford, thank you. Bye."

He took a deep breath and walked out of the inn, feeling an odd sense of security about his situation.


	7. Relief

Luke spent the majority of the morning thinking about what he could do for Lorelai to thank her for being so patient with him. He was on autopilot, because his head was spinning with thoughts of April, Anna, and Lorelai at different points of the day. By the time lunch rolled around, he started to become a little less stressed out.

Until Anna walked into the diner, things weren't so bad. In the middle of the lunch rush, Anna was the last person that Luke expected to see. He placed the plates he was carrying onto the table and opened the door to the diner, a sign that he wanted to talk outside. Anna followed, her arms crossed.

"What are you doing here?" Luke asked simply.

She snorted. "I'm here because you showed up at my place of business and I wanted to make it even," she replied sarcastically.

"Look, whatever it is, can't we just get it over with in a civilized manner so we can both get back to work?"

Anna rolled her eyes. "Look, Luke, I told April I'd allow her to see you for a few hours this afternoon, and I'm not going to take that away from her. But if she comes back angry, or upset, or… anything that isn't happy…"

"Why don't you trust me with April? I'll be able to entertain my own kid," Luke insisted.

"You have no… you know what, forget it. This is going in circles and we're never going to accomplish anything. I'll drop April off at four and pick her up at nine. It's a school night and she has homework. We'll meet here both times."

Luke resisted the urge to lash out at Anna for running the show, for being such a dictator. He shoved his hands in his pockets and nodded, swallowing his feelings. "See you at four," he said with a nod, watching her walk away.

He walked back into the diner, wondering what to do. He couldn't run to Lorelai for everything, but he wanted some involvement on her part. He quickly spotted Caesar and pointed upstairs, trying to make sure Caesar could handle it in the diner. After receiving a "thumbs up" from Caesar, Luke walked upstairs and called the Dragonfly, hoping he'd remembered the extension to Lorelai's office phone.

"Dragonfly Inn, Lorelai speaking," she answered.

"Hey, it's me. Can you come over to the diner on your break? There's something we need to talk about."

Lorelai giggled. "You're not pregnant, are you?" she teased.

"I'm serious, I need to talk to you about something," he hissed.

"Is everything okay?" she asked. "You're all serious."

He sighed. "We'll talk about it when you're on your break."

"O-kay then, see you in a little while," she said, hanging up the phone.

Luke finished off the lunch rush and waited through the early afternoon lull for Lorelai to come over. She walked in at about two, a grin plastered on her face. She grabbed his hand and led him upstairs to the apartment, taking Luke by surprise.

"What are…"

He was interrupted by Lorelai, leaning in to kiss him. He pulled back, and she laughed. "I don't understand," she replied, taking off his baseball cap and putting her hands in his back pockets.

"Lorelai, I really needed to talk to you," he said, blushing.

She giggled. "Oh, I didn't know if that was code for something dirty. Carry on."

"You're such a tease," he muttered, picking his hat up off of the floor.

"What did you want to talk to me about?" she asked, taking a seat.

Luke sighed as he started to pace. "April's coming today."

Lorelai smiled. "So Anna isn't going to keep her from you after all, huh?"

"That's not the point right now, the point is… she's coming in two hours. I have nothing planned. I thought about stuff, but the closer it gets to four, the more stupid my ideas sound," Luke ranted. "I mean, I don't even know where to start."

"Well, Luke, I'm sure whatever you have planned will be perfect," she said with a smile.

He sighed. "What if… I let her hang out here at the diner until I leave at six, and then I bring her over to your place, and I'll make us all dinner? Does that sound okay? Or is that really dumb? I mean, if it's dumb, I can…"

Lorelai stood up and took Luke's hand. She leaned in and gave him a kiss. "That plan sounds perfect. I'm… touched that you want to bring her over."

"Well, you'll eventually be her step mother, right? Is tonight okay to meet her?"

Lorelai shuddered. "God, stepmother! That has such an evil connotation to it."

"Lorelai," Luke sighed. "I'm sure she'll like you better than me anyway."

Lorelai raised her eyebrows. "Do we need to have a talk? We got a peek at the real Luke earlier, freaking out to Anna in her store. What is it going to take to get him back? I'm not so sure about the lack of self confidence Luke."

"What are you talking about?" he grumbled, sitting down.

She followed, seating herself next to him and putting her arm around him. "This girl obviously wanted to know who you were. She went through all that trouble," Lorelai reasoned.

"And she got me. I know nothing about kids."

Lorelai put her hand on Luke's knee. "Okay, so you're not that great at buying presents. And you're not exactly up on the cool stuff for a twelve year old. But that all comes with time. Luke, you can't expect it all to come in one day. Look at how great you were to Rory."

"Rory…"

"Luke, don't go saying how Rory was already grown up, all that crap. You know it's crap. Need I remind you of all the nice things you've done for her over the years? I'll have a barbershop quartet sing them for you if I need to."

"I just don't know how to do this. Everything else in my life just felt natural, you know? I could hit a ball, I was a high school athlete. I can cook, I own a diner. This… I just don't know where to start."

Lorelai laughed. "Story time, boys and girls, gather 'round!"

"Lorelai," he sighed.

"I had Rory at sixteen. You think I knew what to do? They sent her home with me, and I thought, 'okay, now what?' for a long time. Mom hired a nanny for me, but I wouldn't let her touch Rory. I don't know why. I guess I wanted to start from scratch and figure it all out. And things worked out okay. The nanny got a nice severance check, Rory and I moved here, and now Rory's a functioning human being without severe trauma from her mother's lack of confidence. Does that make sense?"

Luke sighed. "I'm being stupid about this. You did it all on your own…"

"Luke, please. It will come naturally after awhile, okay? Just give it time. For now, just try and get to know her a little. Figure out what she likes, what she dislikes, and then take it from there. You'll get into a rhythm eventually. I'm here to help."

He leaned in and kissed her. "Thank you," he said.

She smiled. "No problem. I'm all for the dirty, if you're not flustered anymore," she teased.

"I should uh, get back to work," Luke pointed out.

"Aw, work, right, I do that kind of stuff too," she teased. "See you tonight?"

"We'll see you tonight," Luke replied, watching her walk down the stairs of the apartment.

By the time Anna dropped April off in front of the diner, Luke's fears had mostly gone away. He gave a courteous wave to Anna and opened the door for April. "Hey, April," he said.

"Hi," she replied with a smile, seating herself at the counter.

"I was thinking that I'd stay on shift at the diner until six, and then I'll take you to meet someone. Does… that sound okay?" he asked.

April nodded eagerly. "I haven't really seen much of the diner business. It actually fascinates me. Do you use the diner talk?"

"Diner talk?" Luke asked.

"You know, the phrases like in the movies?" April continued.

Luke shook his head. "My employees aren't always the brightest bulbs in the pack," he explained.

April giggled. "I see."

"But I'm sure you'll come across someone who enjoys the uh, terminology as much as you do. I know a few people in town that are like that," Luke continued, mentally cursing himself for carrying on such an awkward conversation.

"I haven't been in town much, either. Everything seems so exciting. It's so different from what I'm used to. Can we take a tour of the town?"

Luke rubbed the back of his neck. "We can do that… next time. Is that okay?"

April nodded. "Of course it's okay! I'll look forward to it. Who are we visiting tonight?"

Luke was running ideas through his head about how to drop the bomb on April that he was engaged, until Kirk walked through the diner door, seating himself next to a very amused April.

"Luke, I'd like a cheeseburger cut in half. Toothpicks on each half, please. And put two pickles on the side, as well. Oh, and I'll have one percent milk to drink."

April giggled. "Are your customers always this specific with their orders?"

"Who are you? What are you looking at?" Kirk asked, moving down two stools. "Don't mock my eating habits, you'll be sorry!"

Luke rolled his eyes. "That's just Kirk, the town weirdo. Or, the weirdest town weirdo. The majority of them are insane."

"Hi, Kirk," April said.

Kirk glared at April and turned away, causing April to giggle more. "I thought I'd have to bring a book along to entertain me, but apparently not!"

"You know what, I think Caesar can handle it from here, you want to get out of here?"

"Are we going somewhere more entertaining than this? That seems impossible to me," April replied.

"I'm sure you'll want to retract that statement once we get there."

"Someone's being all Sherlock Holmes about our destination. Am I going to have to use my 'animal, vegetable, mineral' question this early?"

Luke opened the diner door for April. "We're going to my… uh, fiancee's house."

"You're engaged? I didn't know that!"

"I am," Luke said, starting in the direction of Lorelai's house. "You'll like her a lot."

"I'm a pretty open minded person, I like a lot of different people. But apparently some people aren't as free with who they associate with. I mean, at school, I'm kind of a science nerd, you know, I like that stuff. People really don't take that as interesting or cool," April started.

"Ah, Lorelai isn't a scientist, but she has a smart kid. She goes to Yale."

"Yale? Wow," April said, in awe. "That's one of my top schools."

"You think this stuff through, don't you?" Luke asked.

April nodded. "I'm good at planning."

They continued the walk to Lorelai's house, stumbling their way through conversations, until Luke stopped in front of the house. "This is Lorelai's house."

"It's a nice house," April said.

"It is," Luke agreed.

April looked at Luke, standing by the mailbox and not moving. "Are we going to admire it from afar, or actually go in?" she giggled.

"Oh, right," he replied, walking up the driveway and onto the porch. He rang the doorbell and Lorelai opened the door.

"Hey, you guys are here!" she said with a smile. "Come on in. You must be April."

"That's me," April said. "And you're Lorelai."

Lorelai laughed. "That's my name, don't wear it out. It's so nice to meet you! Come on in, guys," she said, flashing a smile at Luke. "I'll grab jackets."

"Thanks," April said, looking around. "Ooh, a Betty Boop vase!"

Lorelai laughed. "I love that kind of stuff, I buy it to horrify my mother."

"Me too, actually. Not the horrify my mother part, but I like the random collector's items. I have a Scooby Doo toothbrush holder."

"Wow, a girl after my own heart," Lorelai said with a smile.

Luke watched as Lorelai ushered them into the living room. Lorelai and April continued to chat and he took a deep breath. This looked like it would work out after all.


	8. Bump in the Road

April sat in the truck, tapping her fingers on her legs. "Thanks for tonight, I had fun," she said, breaking the awkward silence.

"You're welcome, we had a great time, too," Luke replied. "I hope we can do it again sometime."

"We should make this kind of a regular thing. I mean, if that's what you want. I totally get it if you're busy, or…"

"Sure," Luke said, interrupting April. "We… could make this a regular thing."

April smiled. "Cool," she said, looking out the window.

"Is that your mom's car?" Luke asked.

April nodded. "That's it," she said, getting out of the truck. "See ya."

Luke smiled. "See ya."

He rolled down the window, checking to make sure that April had gotten in the car safely, and Anna walked up to the truck. Luke opened the door and got out of the truck, crossing his arms. "I got her here by nine."

"I see that," Anna replied.

The two stood, silent. Neither would budge, but the tension was evident. Luke shivered a little from the tingling he got in his spine. Anna was NOT in a good mood, and Luke could sense it. "So, uh, should we try this out next week… again?" he spat out, deciding not to prolong his nervous state as he shoved his hands in his pockets.

Anna crossed her arms. "We'll see," she replied in a cold and short manner. "I'll check the calendar and let you know."

"Anna, I thought we were going to handle this like adults, for April's sake," Luke insisted.

She shook her head. "Just because you haven't been around for twelve years, and you want to be now, doesn't mean you can take all my time with April. We'll talk."

Luke was furious. Anna hadn't even bothered to inform Luke that he had a daughter, and now she decided to throw it in his face as an insult? He felt like he was on the verge of exploding. Luke wanted to go on a rant, one of his best rants yet, but something sucked the rant back in and prevented it from coming out. He balled up his fists and took a deep breath. "Fine. I just ask you to think about what's best for April," he said, opening the door and getting back into the truck.

After muttering choice words under his breath at Anna as she drove away, Luke started up the truck and drove back to the house. He walked in, slammed the door and shook his head again, taking off his shoes. His temporary anger had subsided, but was coming back again. He walked into the kitchen, knowing Lorelai would want some coffee. He started a pot and sat at the kitchen table, grumbling to himself, scaring Paul Anka out of the room.

Lorelai came down the stairs, singing as loud as she could as she rubbed the towel through her wet hair. "Hey, you're back!" she said.

He nodded. "Yeah, I'm back."

"How'd it go? You got there on time, obviously."

"I did."

"And when are you going to get to hang out with April again?"

Luke pointed to the coffee pot. Lorelai's eyes lit up and she leaned down and gave Luke a kiss. "My hero," she gushed, patting him on the shoulder. "You made me coffee."

"That's why the house smells like it," Luke grumbled.

"Can I tell you something? I am so happy tonight! You, my friend, could be a very, very lucky man."

Luke sat at the table, watching Lorelai as she poured herself a cup of coffee. "Good to know," he answered unenthusiastically.

"April? She's absolutely amazing. Come on, let's go upstairs, you look exhausted," she said, taking his hand. "You don't have to go to sleep, we can sit and watch TV."

"Great," Luke grumbled again.

"And I couldn't believe she liked the Bangles, Luke. Seriously. She liked the BANGLES! What a great kid she is, Luke. I still can't stop talking about her. She's so lucky to have you," Lorelai said, rubbing Luke's arm.

He nodded. "Yeah, I guess."

"Are you okay?" Lorelai asked. "Everything's right with the world, Luke. You've got a great kid, my kid's come to her senses, you and I are getting married… it's finally the way we wanted it. It took us awhile to get there, but still."

Luke shrugged. "I'm fine," he said, tying his pajama bottoms and reaching for his toothbrush.

Lorelai shook her head. "Luke, if this is going to work out, and stay as perfect as it is, you're going to have to talk to me. Miss Cleo hasn't given me my final psychic lesson yet," she insisted, slightly exasperated.

He sighed. She was so happy, he didn't want to ruin it with his news. He remembered Lorelai's warning when he had told her about April. He knew she was completely serious, so he took a deep breath. "I think Anna and I are on the outs."

"Uh oh," Lorelai sighed. "You know you're still visiting with my parents' lawyer tomorrow, right?"

Luke nodded. "I think I may have to take his advice. I just don't know what to do, and I'm really afraid I'll screw things up with April if I tell Anna how I feel."

"You can't tell Anna how you feel?" Lorelai asked.

"There are some choice words I have a feeling she wouldn't appreciate," Luke replied, sitting down on the bed. "I had a rant and everything."

"A rant? Whatever do you mean?" she teased.

Luke sighed. "I mean, come on, she keeps the fact that I have a kid from me for twelve years. Then she talks to me tonight, and throws it back at me, making it sound like it's my fault so she feels less guilty about it? What an idiot. She's also decided that now she needs to check her calendar before we can make a date to have April come visit again. This isn't about what's convenient for Anna, it's about what's best for April. And dammit, I am GOING to do what's best for my kid, Lorelai!"

Lorelai smiled and squeezed his hand. "You're doing the best you can, just…"

"And the worst part is? That she actually made me feel guilty for a second. I had to process it and then realize that I wasn't the one who should be feeling guilty, but she must be just that good, because I was about to apologize for something that was not my fault to begin with!" he shouted.

"Luke, hon, I know you're upset, but Paul Anka…"

"And you know what makes me mad? She thinks she can do that, and get away with it, and that I'm just going to let her! How long have we known each other, Lorelai? Have you EVER known me to just LET people treat me or someone I care about that way?"

Lorelai shuddered. "You've put people in headlocks. You've yelled at people, and threatened to chop them up like garlic, all for me and Rory. Even before we got together."

"She didn't know me long, but I'm sure I make an impression," Luke snarled.

Her eyes widened. "You do," she agreed.

"So why would now be different?"

Lorelai sat beside him. "Well, I'm not really sure, Luke. I'll tell you what, I'll go with you tomorrow, for moral support. It's just a bump in the road, that's all. You may spill the coffee on your best jeans, but hey, that's why they have washing machines."

"Somehow, I understood that strange metaphor," he said, turning to look at Lorelai.

Lorelai grinned, kissing him on the cheek. "You've taken a look inside my brain, how'd you like your stay?"

"I want my money back," Luke insisted.

She smiled, shook her head, and started to laugh. She was to the point of no return, she was giggling and gasping for air. Luke smiled and got under the covers. He turned to Lorelai, watching as she brushed out her hair.

"Why are you staring at me?" she giggled. "You think I'm gorgeous! You want to kiss me! You want to hug me! You want to love me! You want to smooch me!"

"You've watched Miss Congeniality too many times for your own good."

"Five times in one day has GOT to be a record."

"You're ruining it," Luke insisted.

"Well then, I still wonder why you're giving me the googly eyes," Lorelai teased as she slipped under the covers.

Luke sighed. "I just can't imagine how much this would suck without you, so… thanks."

"You're welcome," she said, giving Luke a kiss and turning out the light.


	9. Vicariously Fearless

"Hi, I'm supposed to meet with Attorney Michaels today," Luke said as he nervously rocked onto his heels.

The receptionist quietly got up from her seat at the desk and walked down the hall. He glanced back at Lorelai, who was seated in the small waiting area, thumbing through a magazine. How could she be so nonchalant about this whole thing? She wasn't nervous, but he was a wreck. There wasn't a moment since he told Lorelai that April existed that she seemed even a little nervous.

He swallowed hard as the receptionist returned to the desk. "Follow me, Mr. Danes," she said.

Luke turned to Lorelai, who placed the magazine on the table nearby and followed closely behind. "You didn't even tell her your name yet," she said. "That receptionist must be psychic."

"Or I'm the only person scheduled to meet with this guy today at this time," Luke grumbled.

The woman led the two into a large office with two leather chairs and a multitude of fake plants scattered across the room. Lorelai hooked her arm in Luke's and leaned close. "Is it wrong that I'm half expecting Tarzan to come swinging in from the next office over?" she whispered, letting out a giggle.

"Lorelai, please," Luke hissed.

She looked back at him, shrugging as she gave him a half smile. He sighed. He knew she understood how stressed he was.

A short, skinny man stood up from behind the desk, buttoning his suit jacket. "You must be Luke Danes," he said.

Luke nodded, extending his hand. "It's nice to meet you," he replied. "And this is my fiancee, Lorelai Gilmore."

"Lorelai, you're Emily and Richard's little girl, I presume?" Attorney Michaels asked.

Lorelai smiled politely, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "Not so little anymore," she teased, shaking the attorney's hand.

"I'm guessing you don't remember me, but goodness knows I remember you," the man said with a nod.

She turned to Luke, giving him a confused look. "You do?" she asked, turning her attention to the attorney once more.

"Oh, yes," he said, motioning toward the seats. "Please, sit down, make yourselves comfortable," he insisted.

Lorelai and Luke seated themselves in the black leather chairs opposite Attorney Michaels' desk.

"I attended a party that your parents threw years and years ago. I wasn't extremely entertained and I must not have covered up my lack of enthusiasm very well. Lorelai noticed the rather disgusted look on my face and informed me that a maid would assist me if I wished to exit through a back door. And for that, I can't thank you enough, Lorelai," Attorney Michaels explained.

"My parents have thrown some... boring parties over the years," Lorelai replied. "Anyone that wanted to escape knew who to find."

"Sure, your parents threw some dull parties, but my debt to you still stands. Thank you."

Lorelai smiled. "My pleasure," she replied, looking at Luke, who tried to suppress a quiet chuckle.

"Now that we're reacquainted," Attorney Michaels started, "I can pay you back by helping your fiance out. Now, Luke, I hear you're in the midst of a custody battle."

Luke folded his hands nervously in his lap and cleared his throat. "Well, it's not a battle just yet, but uh, I just found out that I have a twelve year old daughter. My ex kept the fact that my daughter existed a secret for twelve years and after finding out that April's my daughter, I want to be a part of her life. So far, Anna, that's April's mom, isn't exactly willing to budge."

Attorney Michaels scratched his head and took notes as Luke spoke. "Are you and Anna on good terms, would you say?" he asked.

"I want to be," Luke sighed. "It just doesn't seem like it's going to work without some sort of professional intervention."

Attorney Michaels put his pen down and closed his file. "Well, Luke, my first suggestion to you would be to attempt something called mediation. You and Anna will have a professional mediator to sit and listen to each side, and help you reach an agreement. They'll be able to work out any problems you and Anna may have. If everything goes as it's supposed to, you'll be able to avoid a custody hearing."

Lorelai smiled and looked at Luke. "Wow, Luke, that would be a load off your mind," she insisted.

"And if for some reason, that doesn't work?" Luke asked.

Attorney Michaels folded his hands on the desk. "Well, you and Anna would then have a custody hearing, a trial. I'd be happy to represent you if it comes to that point, but let's try mediation first to see if you can save yourself some time, some money, and some stress."

Lorelai patted Luke's hand. "And can we call you if we need you?" she asked.

"Certainly," Attorney Michaels insisted, handing Lorelai a business card. "Call me if you need to. I'll keep my case load a little smaller than usual, but to be honest, I'd hope to not hear from you. That would mean that mediation went smoothly."

Luke nodded. "We appreciate your help, thank you," he insisted, standing up and straightening his tie.

"My pleasure," Attorney Michaels replied, shaking Luke's hand and Lorelai's hand once again. "Lorelai, it was lovely to see you again. Good luck, I sincerely wish you two the best. I see far too many haughty, ungrateful parents in my office. But you, Lorelai, seem to have your head on straight. I was never a huge fan of either of your parents, to be honest, but you've gotten your life on track. And Luke, it's been a pleasure to meet you, I have a good feeling about your mediation."

Lorelai and Luke walked out of the office and Luke straightened his tie. He looked to Lorelai, who grabbed his hand and squeezed it. "See? It's all going to be okay," she insisted.

He shrugged as he turned to look at her. "I sure hope so," he sighed.

The ride back to Stars Hollow was silent. Luke's mind was busy, running through every possible scenario that could become of the situation. What if mediation didn't work, and he lost the custody hearing? What if the mediation and the imminent trial put stress on Lorelai and Luke's relationship? What if Lorelai and Anna, who hadn't met yet, grew to hate each other so much that it ruined things by the end? What if April was affected by the lack of a friendly relationship between Anna and Luke, or Anna and Lorelai, or even Luke and Lorelai?

"Luke," Lorelai said, forcing Luke to come out of his thought pattern and pay attention. He soon realized he had reached Stars Hollow by autopilot. He hadn't paid attention the entire way home.

"Huh?" he asked.

"You just... passed the inn," she pointed out.

Luke executed a u-turn and pulled into the parking lot of the inn. "There you go, sorry about that," he said.

Lorelai looked at Luke. "Are you sure you're going to be okay?" she asked.

"Once it's all over, I will be," Luke answered.

Lorelai nodded. "Well, you know, if you need to talk..."

"Later," he insisted. "I'm still processing."

"Okay," she said. "I understand. But please, Luke, don't forget that I'm here for you. I don't expect you to, you know, pour your soul out to me, but just... drop me a hint as to how you're doing, okay?" she pleaded.

"I will," he replied, leaning in and giving her a kiss.

She pulled back and bit her lip, opening the door. Luke watched as she walked up the pathway and into the inn. He sighed, starting the car back up. He couldn't figure it out. She was so fearless. Lorelai Gilmore was fearless, and Luke Danes had never been so scared in his life.


	10. Meetings and Blowups

Three weeks later, Luke sat in the waiting area of the mediator's office. Lorelai sat next to him, chattering about something to break the silence. Luke glanced from Lorelai to the door, and back to Lorelai again. Anna and Lorelai were about to meet for the first time, and Luke imagined bloodshed. He let out a sigh. Why was he so concerned about this? Lorelai and Anna were grown women, and Lorelai could crack a joke to diffuse any situation. Things just may work.

Luke heard the door open and Anna walked into the office, giving her name to the receptionist and giving Luke a very forced smile. "Hello, Luke," she said.

"Anna. Hi," Luke replied. "Uh, Anna, this is my fiancée Lorelai Gilmore. Lorelai, this is Anna, April's mom."

Lorelai extended her hand. "Nice to meet you," she said.

Anna merely nodded in response, leaving Lorelai's hand outstretched. She glanced around the waiting area and shot a look at Lorelai. "I'm not sure they're going to allow you in the room," she pointed out.

"No, no, I won't go in. I'm here in case they need me. Mostly for cheerleading purposes, you know, but not like I'm cheering against… you… April's a great kid," Lorelai said, nervously fishing for a neutral subject.

"Yes, she is," Anna replied.

Luke rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "I'm going to see if…"

"No," Lorelai practically shouted.

Luke gave her a confused look, and Lorelai cleared her throat. "Everything okay?" he asked.

Lorelai folded her hands in her lap. "Uh, I was just…"

"Is there something wrong?" Anna asked.

"No, uh, I just figured that, you know, they'd come get you when they needed you," Lorelai said.

Luke sat back down next to Lorelai as Anna sat across from the two. He could feel the tension rising. The silence was becoming more and more unbearable. If looks could kill, Lorelai would have been dead three times over, at least, and Lorelai was almost in full comeback mode, Luke knew it.

"Mr. Danes? Ms. Nardini?" a woman called from the doorway. Luke practically shot up from his seat and walked toward the door, startling Lorelai. Anna followed close behind. The two were led to a room with a long table between them. Luke was instructed to sit on one side and Anna on the other. Luke folded his hands and stared at Anna.

"What was with that?" Luke barked.

Anna raised her eyebrows. "She gave me a dirty look, I did nothing."

"You didn't shake her hand!" Luke defended. "That's the least you could have done."

"I don't know her," Anna scoffed. "Why should I like her? I don't know anything about this woman, I have a right as a mother to be concerned. Who knows if she's even permanent in your life? She could be a serial killer, Luke, I don't know her."

"You had it in your head before today that you wouldn't like her. That's just you, Anna," Luke said, shaking his head.

Anna rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "I did not. She shot me this 'I'm watching you' look, and that was it."

Luke stood up from the chair, pacing in the small area between the chair and the wall. "You don't get it, do you?"

"Get what?" Anna shot back.

"I've moved on with my life," Luke replied. "But that doesn't mean that April doesn't have a place in it."

"What makes you think you deserve to have April as a part of your life?" Anna replied angrily. "She doesn't call you 'dad', you've met her on just a few occasions. That says nothing."

As Luke was about to fire back, the office door opened. A man, who looked to be in his fifties with thinning blonde hair, cleared his throat. Both Anna and Luke looked toward the man, embarrassed that he saw them fighting.

"Mr. Danes, Ms. Nardini?" the man asked.

"Yes," Luke replied.

"It looks as though this is going to be a rather short meeting," the man said, clearing his throat. "Before we start, I'm obligated by law to explain the process and any concerns I have. I am obligated to stop the meeting at any point in the negotiations if I feel that your personalities are too headstrong and unwilling to be flexible. To be quite honest, I don't think mediation will help you."

Anna groaned. "Great, so now I have to get dragged through a trial?" she hissed.

"The trial will be much simpler if you both put aside your misgivings and do what's right for your daughter," the man insisted. "Good day to you."

Luke was left standing. He crossed his arms and leaned against the wall. "What now?" he grumbled.

"You call up your lawyer. You get anyone you can to make you look good. Good luck with that one," Anna snarled.

Luke shook his head. "No, I'm not going to tolerate this. I'm not letting you get the last word in this. I know hundreds of people who can make me look good," he insisted, storming out of the office. "Come on, Lorelai," he grumbled.

Lorelai got up from her seat and ran behind Luke. "High heels, hon, high heels," she protested.

"Well, don't wear the damn things, then!"

Lorelai stopped. "Luke, we really need to talk."

"What's there to talk about? I may lose a custody case," Luke insisted.

"Luke, that's not…"

Luke stopped and turned around. "Lorelai, I don't want to lose my kid," he practically whispered.

"Okay, hon, let's get you to the truck, we'll talk there," Lorelai pleaded.

He ignored Lorelai's plea, sitting on the curb. "You want me to spill how I'm feeling? Well, Lorelai, here you go. I'm feeling pretty crappy right about now. You don't understand. Not you, not anyone, not even Anna."

"Luke!" Lorelai gasped.

"You keep trying to tell me that everything's going to be okay. But, guess what? You don't know a damn thing," he bellowed.

"You're right," Lorelai said, standing up and shaking her head. "I don't know a damn thing. I guess I was wrong. See, I thought I knew that you were going to be a wonderful father, and that this would all work out. I thought that I could get you to lean on me and we could work together, and everything would be right again. But, you're right. I don't know. Not anymore," she said, throwing her purse over her shoulder and walking toward a brick pillar.

"Lorelai," Luke called.

"No, Luke. I'm taking a cab home," she shouted, her breath hitching in her throat.

"Let me explain…"

Lorelai held up her hand. "I won't understand anyway. What's the point?" she asked, wiping her tears and reaching into her purse for her cell phone as she walked back into the building.

Luke kicked a rock nearby, shouting select curse words as he seated himself on the cold pavement again. He was scared before, but this time he really was alone. He got up and got into the truck, sitting and making sure she got into the cab safely.

He shifted the truck into reverse and sat for a moment before realizing that he couldn't do it on his own. He knew that before, but this time, he took his anger out on Lorelai. Thinking back on the few minutes that had just passed, he shuddered. He was the world's biggest jerk.

Before Luke tried to fix the rest of the puzzle that was his life, he had to fix things with Lorelai. Otherwise, his world would crumble. He pulled out of the parking spot, thinking of ways he could fix what he'd done as he cooled down.


	11. It's All You, Luke

As Luke paced on the front porch, he debated ringing the doorbell. Flashbacks of the day before played in his head. He felt upsetand alone, but he also felt like the scum of the earth. He slowly reached out and rang the doorbell, and quickly shoved his hands in his pockets to keep them warm.

Lorelai pulled the door open and sniffled, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. "Come to do more damage?" she asked, leaning against the doorframe.

"No," Luke replied.

"Then what do you want?"

He sighed. "Can we talk?"

"Now you want to talk, since you've 'processed' everything, right?" she hissed.

Luke looked down at his feet. "Look, I know I screwed up. I know I have a lot of things to apologize for. And I just… can we start from the very beginning, and just… talk about this? I'm going to be honest, I'm no good at communication, but I want to try."

Lorelai said nothing, but opened the door wider for Luke to come in. He cleared his throat and walked in. She headed to the couch, leaving Luke standing in the foyer. She shook her head. "I can't hear you from over there," she grumbled.

Luke quickly walked toward the couch and found three empty ice cream cartons, an empty package of Mallomars, and a bowl with remnants of macaroni and cheese, scattered among several piles of discarded tissues. The sight hit Luke in the gut. He had been a jerk, and he knew it, but the visual representation of what he'd done hurt more than the idea itself.

"So, are you going to say anything or are we just going to sit and look at each other?" Lorelai replied.

"The only place I can start from is the beginning," Luke insisted. "But not before I say how sorry I am. I shouldn't have treated you like I have been, and I have to apologize first. I should have spilled how I was feeling from the beginning, no matter how stupid I felt doing it. To be honest, I felt even more stupid after I did what I did."

"Good," Lorelai muttered.

Luke nodded in agreement. "So I find out that April's my kid. I get this feeling in the pit of my stomach that you're going to be angry. I don't know why, but I felt like this was the bump in the road that told me, 'yeah, buddy, this is too good to be true.'"

"You were anticipating something bad to happen?" Lorelai asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No, no, but… you know me. I'm not the world's most optimistic person. I waited for years for something like us to happen. And I was afraid of getting it all ripped away. Every good thing I've had in my life has gotten ripped away at one point or another. And I didn't want you to be the next thing that I lost," Luke explained.

Lorelai sighed. "Luke, you weren't going to lose me because of April. Acting the way you acted yesterday made you come too damn close for comfort."

Luke sighed. "I know. I know. But I was worried. So when I told you, I felt like I was leaning on you too much. I felt like I was helpless, but at the same time, I felt like, 'hey, I'm a grown man, I did this, why burden her with it?' So, I just… clammed up."

"Understatement of the century," Lorelai grumbled.

"I didn't want to upset you, or your parents, who were helping me out more than I could ever ask, considering how they feel about me. So yesterday, Anna gave you that look, and I was ready to strangle her."

"That won't win you anything but prison time," Lorelai added.

"We had an argument in the office, and the mediator dismissed us right away. Apparently he's required by law to stop when we can't disagree respectfully anymore. And for us? That was before we started. Basically, she hung you out to dry and I was mad. I deserve to have you and April in my life. I shouldn't have to choose, and I shouldn't push you away to fix my problems with Anna," Luke explained.

"What did she say about me?" Lorelai asked.

Luke groaned. "So not the time to gossip," he replied.

She nodded. "Right, sorry. Anyway."

"I just… I was afraid you'd think that I was leaning on you too much, so I went to the other extreme. I have no idea where to go, Lorelai, I have no idea what to do, and I'm going to admit it now. I need your help."

Lorelai put her hand on Luke's arm. "Luke, you are capable of being a parent. You're capable of being a good parent, a great parent. We just have to get you the opportunity. But, let me tell you something. I'm your support system. I can try and help you get a good lawyer, I can beg for my parents to pull some strings and get things moving faster… but this really is all on you."

"It is?" Luke asked.

"I didn't build myself a chuppah. I didn't make Rory a coffee cake. I wasn't the one who took Jess in. I'm not the one who does virtually anything for almost anyone because I care. That's all you, Luke. Your behavior, your desire to do what's right, and to step up for April's sake… that's what you have to do, and they're going to see that."

Luke took a deep breath. "Yeah, I guess that is me."

"But, that doesn't mean you don't talk to me," Lorelai insisted. "Like I said, I'm here. But you're doing it on your own. I can't get you out of this with a wink at the judge. Believe me, I'd do anything I could if it were possible. But this is something you have to do for yourself, Luke. I understand that, and I support that."

"I feel better," Luke insisted.

"I did most of the talking, how do you feel better?" she teased.

He sighed. "Knowing that you accept my apology makes me feel better. I was a jerk."

"Oh, stop being such a martyr and kiss me," Lorelai said, pulling Luke toward her by the collar of his flannel shirt and pressing her lips to his.

He pulled back. "You forgive me, just like that?"

Lorelai raised her eyebrows. "Just prove to me that you're really, really sorry," she whispered, leaning in for another kiss.


	12. Eight Anniversaries and a Family Reunion

"Luke, I need two cheeseburgers, medium well, stat," Kirk said, his voice panicked.

Luke placed a plate on a nearby table and went behind the counter, starting up another pot of coffee. He turned to Kirk, bracing himself on the counter until his knuckles turned white. Taking a deep breath, and clearing his throat, he shook his head. "Take a seat, Kirk," Luke said, pointing to the one empty table in the entire diner.

Kirk looked to the diner door, to Luke, and back to the door again. "Luke, look, I forgot today was my anniversary. Lulu's sitting in the living room, covering her eyes and waiting for the surprise. A romantic lunch at Luke's is the only surprise I can think of after just remembering an anniversary!"

Grabbing a new order and taking it over to another patron, Luke scribbled something on the order pad and shoved it into his back pocket. "You said your anniversary was three weeks ago, Kirk."

"It was," Kirk said, shifting his weight and looking down at his feet.

"You have two anniversaries?"

Kirk cleared his throat. "We have eight," he replied.

"Why do I get myself into this?" Luke muttered, accepting a woman's bill and putting the money in the cash register. "Eight anniversaries?"

"The first time we met, the first date, the first time we held hands, the first time we kissed, the first time I brought Lulu home to mother, the first time Lulu brought me home to her parents, and the first time that we… you know. Today's the first date. It goes in order."

"Kirk, go sit down," Luke snarled, walking back behind the counter. "And that's only seven."

"Dammit!" Kirk said, slapping his forehead and moaning. "I KNEW I forgot something yesterday!"

Luke disappeared into the store room for a moment, looking for more coffee filters. He pushed the random supplies around in a halfhearted search for the filters. Luke simply wasn't in the mood for Kirk. He had just spotted the missing filters when Caesar appeared behind him. "Uh, Boss? There's a lady out there looking for you."

Luke abandoned the search for the coffee filters and walked into the diner, where Anna was seated at the counter. He let out a heavy sigh and grabbed a mug, filling it with coffee for Anna. "Is everything okay?"

Anna sighed. "I need a favor from you," she said, grimacing as though her pride had been wounded at the utterance of the sentence.

"Wow, those are words I never thought I'd hear," Luke said sarcastically, rolling his eyes as he made change for a departing customer.

"Hey, calm down, will you? It's about April. April has a school trip coming up in Pennsylvania and I was going to go. However, I've been called to New Mexico because my mother isn't doing well. I need you to chaperone the trip in my place."

"How does April feel about this?" Luke asked.

Anna took a sip of the coffee. "She asked me if you could go instead," she replied curtly.

Luke cleared his throat, not wanting to act conceited. He was excited that April had asked if he could attend the trip instead, but he would never show it around Anna. That could be something she could use against him. That was the last thing he needed, for sure. He rubbed the back of his neck and nodded. "Yeah, sure, I can go. When is it?"

"Next week," Anna explained, pulling an envelope out of her purse. "This is the itinerary, the locations where they're staying, and the contact numbers. There's probably a release form in there, too."

"Okay," Luke replied. "Is that all you came here for?"

Anna nodded. "I suppose I'll see you in March for the hearing."

"I suppose you will," Luke replied, taking the envelope and placing it in his pocket.

He watched as Anna got up and left the diner, without paying for the coffee and without a goodbye. He took off his baseball cap and scratched his head. Anna was always a complicated woman, but it seemed that since April's existence was made known to him, she had become more complicated, more distant, and more stubborn.

She was obviously upset that April was so attached to him. He couldn't understand why. He was April's father, after all. After trying his hardest to comprehend the thought for the rest of the day, he closed the diner and headed over to Lorelai's house.

He opened the door and kicked off his boots, greeting Paul Anka with a pat on the head as he made his way into the living room. Lorelai was asleep on the couch, clutching the remote in a death grip, ignoring the television show that was on. Luke expertly left the remote in Lorelai's hand, moved toward the television, and manually turned the channel to the Red Sox game.

"I was watching that," Lorelai mumbled.

"Was is the key word there," Luke replied.

"I watch Judge Judy every day," she said, sitting up and looking up at Luke through squinted eyes.

"Well, you're about four hours late on that end."

Lorelai rubbed her eyes. "I can't believe I slept."

"I can't believe you did, either," he said, taking a seat next to her on the couch.

"You look stressed," she said, leaning in to kiss him.

He broke the kiss. "Anna asked me to go on April's school trip next week."

Lorelai smiled. "She did? That's great."

"So I was thinking that you and Rory could come with us. You guys can sight see and shop, or eat, or whatever, while April and I do our thing, and then we can meet up a few times."

"Really? You're inviting us?" she asked, smiling.

"Of course," Luke replied. "And I figure we can stop by and see Jess, too."

Lorelai raised her eyebrows. "Jess?"

"He's in Philadelphia now," Luke replied.

"So this is like a Danes family reunion?" Lorelai giggled. "I'm not sure if you're aware of the cheese factor associated with that."

Luke rolled his eyes. "I wasn't thinking of it like that, I was just…"

She put her hand in his. "I know what you were doing, and I thank you for including us."

"I just…"

"Luke! Hey, no need to defend yourself, you just won me over," Lorelai said, giggling. "Bad day?"

"It was Kirk's third anniversary in a month," Luke replied.

She put her head on his shoulder. "Kirk has three anniversaries?"

"Eight," Luke corrected.

"You poor baby," she said, wrapping her arms around him. "Want to rant?"

"Why do two people need more than one anniversary?"

Lorelai giggled. "Oh, I suppose you've already started. Let me get some coffee."

Luke sighed, putting his feet on the coffee table, taking the abandoned remote control, and turning up the volume on the game.

"Don't think I forgot that I left the remote there," Lorelai called from the kitchen.

Luke let the remote drop on the couch, leaning back and letting out a sigh.


	13. Hotel Philadelphia

"Please Luke? They'd all be so LONELY without each other!"

"Lorelai, eight pairs of shoes is not necessary for the trip."

"Fine, seven," Lorelai huffed, pulling a pair of shoes out of the suitcase. She held them high in the air and allowed them to drop to the floor, causing a flash of colored lights from the heels upon impact.

Luke groaned. "Aren't light up shoes for four year olds?"

Lorelai laughed. "I have a four year old trapped inside of me. It's that simple."

"Jeez," Luke grumbled.

"And her feelings are easily hurt, too," Lorelai said with a pout.

"Will you stop being overdramatic and start packing things you'll actually need for the trip?"

Lorelai picked the shoes up from the floor and opened the suitcase once again, trying her best to shove them in among the other belongings she had already packed.

"What are you doing?" Luke asked.

"You said to pack things I actually needed for the trip, and I am doing so," Lorelai said, rolling her eyes. "You're really not paying attention, keep up."

Luke took the shoes from Lorelai's hands, tossing them aside. "Open your suitcase," he said.

"Don't touch anything, I just got it all to fit," she said with a pout as she moved out of the way to give Luke better access to her luggage.

"Why do you need food?" Luke asked.

Lorelai rolled her eyes. "In case the stores are closed and Rory and I get hungry, of course."

"Okay, you can bring a grocery bag for that, take it out of your suitcase," Luke insisted, motioning to Lorelai's pink polka dotted suitcase.

Lorelai obliged, pulling three more bags of Red Vines and a package of Mallomars out of the suitcase, grinning at the amount of room it left her to place more items on top. She reached over for the discarded shoes, but upon hearing Luke's groan of disapproval, dropped them to the floor once again.

"There we go," she said, leaning over and zipping up the suitcase. "No problems now!"

"Did I go over the itinerary with you?" Luke asked, folding a few shirts and placing them into his own suitcase.

Lorelai rolled her eyes. "About thirty million times."

"I just want to make sure you know where I'll be until Wednesday, then the class has chaperone approved free time. I called and okayed an outing with you guys and April for Wednesday night."

"And you've given me the sites where you'll be several different times, checked the hotel room Rory and I will be staying in, and confirmed eight different malls within driving distance. We're going to be fine," Lorelai said with a smile. "You don't have to ask again, Rory and I are very mature four year olds."

Luke rolled his eyes. "I just wanted to make sure you wouldn't be bored while I did the class trip stuff."

"Rory and Lorelai Gilmore? Bored? If we were that bored, we'd just make up dirty versions of nursery rhymes or something," Lorelai said with a wave of her hand.

"You two are insane," Luke grumbled, zipping up his suitcase.

"Insanely amazing. We blow your mind with our amazingness every day," Lorelai insisted.

"I'm not sure that amazingness is a word," Luke replied.

Lorelai laughed. "It's not a word, it's a way of life."

"Whatever you say. Are you finished packing so that I can bring the bag to the Jeep?"

She smiled. "I am. But I was thinking that Paul Anka should try his skills at carrying…"

Luke simply took the suitcase and walked out of the house and to the Jeep, placing it among the rest of Rory and Lorelai's belongings. Rory smiled as she brought out a small bag and added it to the pile. "You managed to make her get rid of the light up heels?"

"They took up more room than she had," Luke replied.

Rory shrugged. "She's not very steady on them, anyway. She's too concerned about seeing them light up than just wearing them and getting compliments on them."

"Your mother doesn't want to be complimented?" Luke asked. "That's odd."

"But I think her ability to be distracted by shiny and flashing objects wins out over her narcissism," Rory added.

"Apparently so," Luke replied. "You need any more help bringing your stuff outside?"

Rory shook her head. "I'm actually all set. I didn't do such a great job organizing it, but here it is."

"Well, I can help you get it in there so it all fits," Luke replied.

"Whatever would we do without such an industrious gentleman to organize our belongings?" Rory teased.

"Watch it spill out all over the highway because you couldn't fit it all in without leaving doors open," Luke muttered, taking the bags out of the Jeep.

"So is April excited about the trip?" Rory asked as she leaned against the side of the Jeep.

Luke nodded. "She's been researching for weeks."

"Smart," Rory said. "That way you get the assignment sheets over and done with so you can enjoy the sights instead of looking for the answers."

"They give you homework for that stuff?" Luke asked.

Rory rolled her eyes. "It's not just for fun. But you can make it that way if you do your homework beforehand so that way all you have to worry about is the batteries to your camera instead of your extra eraser toppers."

"Good point," Luke said, shoving another suitcase into the Jeep.

"Are you excited? You get to spend a lot of time with April. Mom's thrilled for you," Rory said, fingering the fraying sleeve of her sweater.

Luke shut the door to the Jeep. "Yeah, it should be a nice time."

"Mom's been going on about how much she'll miss you, though, even though we're going to be in the same city," she explained.

"Yeah?" Luke asked.

Rory nodded. "She's been talking about how much she likes having April around and how awesome it is that you're sharing your time with her."

"I'm glad I could make her happy," Luke said.

"Okay, I found AC/DC to do this road trip right," Lorelai said, waving the CD in the air as she jogged out the front door. "We will meet you in Philadelphia. Is there a song with Philadelphia in it? If not, I've planned to sing 'Hotel Philadelphia' instead. I made one up."

"Please tell me there's a copy of the lyrics for me," Rory interjected.

Lorelai rolled her eyes. "Replace 'California' with 'Philadelphia' and you're golden."

Rory smiled. "We'll see you in Philly," she said, giving Luke a hug and opening the passenger's door to the Jeep.

"Call me when you get there," Luke insisted.

Lorelai kissed Luke. "We shall. Don't miss us too much, and Babette's dog sitting money is on the fridge clipped on top of the 'Things Paul Anka is scared of' list with the Hello Kitty magnet."

"Okay," Luke said with a nod. "Have a fun trip, see you Wednesday."

He watched as Lorelai and Rory drove away. He transferred Paul Anka to Babette's care and walked outside to find Anna saying her goodbyes to April. Anna gave Luke a forced smile as she got back into the car and drove down the street.

"Hey," Luke said, grabbing some of April's bags and placing them in the truck. "You excited?"

"Totally jazzed," April replied. "I got all the assignments done beforehand. Whoever invented Google definitely deserves to be as rich as they are. It's a lifesaver. Are we meeting the bus at school?"

Luke nodded. "We are."

"Cool," April replied. "I can't wait."

"Hop in," Luke said, motioning to the truck.

April obliged, buckling her seat belt and watching Luke as he got into the truck. "Are Lorelai and Rory already on their way?"

"They just left," Luke said with a nod.

"I finally get to meet Rory. And Jess," April said with a smile. "So they used to date? That's what I've heard from Kirk."

Luke nodded. "That they did."

"Ooh, tell me the dirty details, I want to know everything," April insisted.

"It's a long story," Luke replied.

April shrugged. "That's right, we'll save it for the bus ride. We have a long drive ahead of us that would be extremely awkward in silence."

Luke didn't respond, but nodded instead. He could see why Lorelai loved spending time with April… they were a lot more alike than he first thought.


	14. Hemingway Versus Some Other Author

**A/n: Very special shout out to Reggie, to whom this chapter is dedicated.**

April and Rory sat on the bed in the hotel room that Wednesday, chatting as Luke paced by the bathroom door. The meeting between April and Rory went smoothly, and they seemed to like each other very much. Now Luke needed to get Lorelai out of the bathroom and out the door so the four of them could meet up with Jess.

"Are you ready yet?" he asked, leaning against the doorframe.

Lorelai groaned. "I'm debating between the two new dresses I bought yesterday while you and April saw stuff."

"Lorelai, we've been through this, just pick one," Luke grumbled.

"Which dresses are we debating over?" Rory asked.

"The flippy black one and the dark blue one with the tie," Lorelai said, peeking her head out of the door.

April smiled. "The blue one sounds pretty. It would look really pretty with your eyes."

"Mom, you can wear the black one anytime," Rory said. "Or the blue one. Just promise the one you don't wear that you'll wear it next time."

Lorelai shut the bathroom door and Luke leaned against it, nearly falling over when she opened it, emerging from the bathroom in the blue dress.

"Good girl," Rory said to Lorelai.

"Are we all ready now?" Luke groaned.

April laughed. "You'd think he'd be used to this by now."

"He'll never get used to it, I'll just have to go slower next time," Lorelai teased, giving April a wink as she reached for her purse.

"Good God, are we ready to go now?" Luke spat, putting on his jacket.

"Okay, Grumpy Gus, we're ready," Lorelai said, patting Luke on the arm.

Luke led the girls down the street and around the corner, taking Lorelai's hand as Rory and April walked behind. They soon came across a small bookstore and Luke stopped, pulling the door open and holding it for Lorelai, Rory, and April. "This is it," he said.

"This is where Jess works now?" Lorelai asked, taking a look around the small, but cozy bookstore.

Luke nodded. "See him standing over there? Not a hologram."

Lorelai laughed. "If he really isn't a mirage, I'd venture out to say that the little punk's done well for himself."

"That he has," Luke replied.

He glanced over at Jess, who had just spotted the crew. Jess shoved his hands deep into the pockets of his jeans before making his way over. He nodded at Luke before pulling his hand out of his pocket for a handshake that turned into a manly hug.

Lorelai and Rory giggled as Luke pulled back, shooting the pair a dirty look. Jess turned to Rory and shoved his hands in his pockets once more. "Rory, Lorelai," he said, before turning to April. "You must be April."

"Process of elimination seems to make it that way," April replied with a smile.

"You've been sucked into the crazy group of people that they call a family, too?"

April laughed. "I suppose I have. Nice to meet you."

"Nice place," Lorelai said, earning a not-so-subtle nudge in the ribs from Rory.

Jess smirked. "Thanks. You guys hungry? I know a place where we can grab a bite to eat and a couple of drinks…" he stopped short when he spotted April. "Or milkshakes for the underage."

"Milkshakes? Dirty," Lorelai added, giggling.

Rory grinned. "Extremely."

"How can a milkshake be interpreted as dirty?" Luke asked, glancing at Jess, who merely shrugged as he looked at the floor.

"I take it you've never heard the milkshake song," April offered.

"You're in on this, too?" Luke asked.

April smiled, stifling a laugh. "I'm twelve. Not four," she replied. "I've heard rumblings of the content that Kelis has shared with the world."

Lorelai and Rory giggled again at April's comment, and started for the door as April tagged along.

"I guess that means they're hungry," Jess said, motioning toward the door.

"Is there a time when they aren't?" Luke countered.

Jess shrugged. "I suppose you're right. So what's up with April? She living with you now?"

Luke sighed. "It's getting complicated."

"Complicated how?"

"Custody hearing. You know, lawyers, visitation stuff, character references, digging up the dirt on each other, that sort of thing."

"Character reference?" Jess asked.

Luke nodded in confirmation.

"You got someone on that yet?"

"Well, I was—"

"I can do it," Jess interjected upon hearing Luke's hesitation.

"I couldn't ask you to do that," Luke said, shrugging.

Jess snorted. "I am a writer, you know. That's how I make my living. It's not like you're asking me to climb Mount Everest."

"You'd do that for me?" Luke asked.

Jess nodded. "It's about time I did something for you."

"Thanks, Jess, that means a lot that you would offer to do that," Luke said, clearing his throat.

"Not a problem," Jess said, shivering as he opened the door to the bookstore and stepped out onto the sidewalk where Lorelai, Rory, and April stood, laughing about something.

Luke glanced from the girls to his nephew, and let out a heavy sigh. "You know, Jess, you…"

"Jeez, Uncle Luke, don't get all sappy on me now, I didn't bring my Kleenex," Jess said, rolling his eyes.

"I just…"

"Relax, will ya? I've got it taken care of," Jess said, leading the way to the restaurant.

Lorelai stood still, waiting for Luke to catch up with her. "Aww, you two fighting over the bill already?" she asked, wrapping her arm around Luke's waist.

He turned to face Lorelai. "Jess is going to write the character reference for me."

Her eyes widened. "Did you…"

"Nope."

"So he just…"

"Yup."

"Wow."

"Yeah."

Lorelai laughed. "I think that's the shortest conversation you and I have ever had. But that is really nice of him."

Luke nodded. "You know, he's grown up a little."

"I noticed," Lorelai replied.

"And as of right now, I needed someone…"

"And Jess was that someone you needed," Lorelai interjected.

"Apparently so," Luke answered. "I knew he could do it. He just had to get off his ass and make something of himself."

"Looks as though he has," Lorelai said with a smile.

The five were immediately seated in the restaurant when Jess was recognized by the hostess. Rory looked at Jess and then at Lorelai. "Wow, so you're a big wig around here, huh?"

Jess laughed. "I wish. I come in here a lot, so they give me priority seating. I wouldn't mind waiting, but they tend to give me the benefit of the doubt."

"They, or she?" April pressed.

Jess snorted, looking at his cousin. "What do you mean, she?"

April rolled her eyes. "It's obvious she has a thing for you. Did you see the way she smiled at you? Come on, now, you're an author, you catch these little details."

"Speaking of authors," Rory said, earning a sigh of relief from Jess. "April should settle an age old debate between the two of us."

Lorelai kicked Luke under the table. "Here we go, Hemingway versus some other author that's not Hemingway, round 458."

"What are your thoughts on Hemingway?" Jess asked, posing the question before Rory could influence April's response.

April rolled her eyes. "Ugh, 'The Old Man and the Sea' was the most pointless book I have ever read in my entire life. I can see why people like him, but come ON! He may be classic, but there are so many other classic authors who don't make me want to suddenly get amnesia after reading their work."

Luke took a sip of beer, choking it down after hearing April's response. "Did Rory…"

"Not that I know of," Lorelai responded.

"Okay, so Rory wins this round, but Jane Austen's the next to go!" Jess replied.

Rory gasped. "Okay, you want to get started on Jane Austen? Fine."

"Poor Jess is outnumbered," Lorelai replied. "You are too. But then again, I'm not apologizing."

"You do realize that Paul Anka is the only other source of testosterone in the house?" Luke confirmed.

Lorelai laughed. "Maybe we'll have a little boy that you can teach to do little boy things. I never had one, and I never was one, so that's your thing."

"We're assigning jobs to raise a kid that we don't have yet?" Luke asked.

She snorted. "Tell me you never did commentary for yourself in the backyard, running around and winning some sort of sports game."

"If I did, I wouldn't admit to it," Luke grunted.

"I hope their cheeseburgers and coffee aren't as good as yours," Lorelai mused, opening the menu. "Because then I'd have to move here and marry the owner of this restaurant."

"Frank's married," Jess interjected.

"Well, then for your sake, I certainly hope they suck," Lorelai teased.

Luke smiled as he watched the debate between Rory, Jess, and April about Jane Austen. He looked to Lorelai and sighed. "This is all going to work out," he insisted.

She patted his leg. "Of course it will."

He cleared his throat, thinking about the upcoming hearing that he would have to attend when he got back to Stars Hollow. He really needed it to turn out the way he had hoped it would.


	15. Sincerely, Jess Mariano

Luke stood in front of the bathroom mirror, trying to straighten his tie. He was supposed to be at the custody hearing in an hour and a half, and he wasn't quite ready to go. He untied and re-tied it several times before letting out a groan of frustration. "Forget it, I'm not wearing a tie," Luke said, tossing the tie onto the floor.

Lorelai sighed, picking up the tie and putting her hand on Luke's shoulder. "Hey, you, relax, okay? This isn't going to go well if you freak out about it. Just calm down and things will go well."

He took a deep breath and allowed Lorelai to tie his tie for him. "This is really important, Lorelai, how am I supposed to calm down?"

She smiled. "Do you want me to come for moral support? I'll wait on the bench thing by the giant palm tree in a pot that I like to talk to."

"You're crazy," Luke said, buttoning the sleeves on his blue dress shirt.

Lorelai laughed. "But you couldn't live without me," she teased, slipping into a black dress and a pink sweater. "I'll come with you."

"Thanks," Luke said, reaching for his toothbrush.

"You okay?" Lorelai asked.

He squeezed some toothpaste onto the toothbrush and rinsed it. "I guess," he replied. "I mean, I just don't want the possibility of getting to know April better being taken away from me. I know she's used to living with her mom, and I don't expect her to be here every weekend, but you know, some time with her would be nice."

Lorelai smiled. "I understand completely. Everything will work out, Luke, there's no reason why they won't let you see your kid. You're not an axe wielding murderer or anything. You own a diner, you're one of the most beloved citizens of Stars Hollow. You're a good guy, Luke, I'm sure that will come across in the hearing."

"I'm sure it will," Luke said, sounding unconvinced as he began to brush his teeth.

After they were finished getting ready, Luke and Lorelai made their way to the courthouse. Luke was seated next to Lorelai on the bench while Lorelai opened and closed her cell phone to occupy herself. Luke was nervous, he could finally admit it to himself. He wasn't expecting much, but he wanted the opportunity to be a good father to April.

He turned to his fiancée, and she gave him a smile. He took a deep breath and kissed her on the cheek before entering the small courtroom. Luke took a seat next to his lawyer and the judge began to explain how the hearing would happen. Luke could hear his heart beating in his ears, but he was advised to let his lawyer talk for him, so he obliged. It wasn't like him, but he wasn't about to jeopardize his future with April.

He had a hard time focusing on the hearing. They brought all of his shortcomings and misgivings up, causing him to wring his hands in frustration. It was the only way he could keep from shouting at Anna's lawyer. He tugged at his tie, hoping that Jess's letter would convince the judge that he would be a fit parent. If the character references would ever be read, at least. As the hearing dragged on longer and longer, Luke became more and more uncomfortable. The judge opened Anna's file and read her character reference into record. Then Luke's file was opened and Luke cleared his throat, obviously nervous and uncomfortable.

"This letter was written by Mr. Jess Mariano," the judge said, pulling Jess's letter out of Luke's file.

Luke rubbed the back of his neck in anticipation. He knew Jess would come through for him, but he also hoped that the judge would see the sincerity of the letter. Luke listened as the judge read Jess's letter.

"To whom it may concern: My name is Jess Mariano, and I am writing this letter on behalf of my uncle, Luke Danes.

I was sent to live with Luke in Stars Hollow, Connecticut when I was a teenager. I had been through a lot in my life, and I was angry and frustrated. I took my frustrations out on Luke. At first, I thought living with Luke would be like a vacation. After all, he was my single uncle who lived in an apartment above his diner, how much could he be capable of figuring out? I soon realized that I would have to abide by a set of rules that Luke enforced, whether I wanted to or not. I believed that eventually Luke would get tired of having to discipline me and send me back home. Instead, he continued to try to help me succeed by insisting that I attend school and get my diploma. When I didn't, Luke asked me to leave the apartment.

After I left Luke's apartment, things started to turn around for me. I got my GED, took some courses at a local college, and got a degree in creative writing. I owe a lot of my success to Luke for believing that I was capable of doing some good.

Indifference is not a word in Luke's vocabulary. He is not afraid to passionately express an opinion, sometimes intimidating other citizens of the town. But those who know Luke Danes know that while some see him as gruff, he is a caring person who would do anything for anyone who asked. I feel that this trait is what will make Luke an excellent father. The opportunity to show April how much he cares for her will make a big difference in her life, and in his. Thank you for your time. Sincerely, Jess Mariano."

Luke breathed a sigh of relief at the letter Jess wrote for him. He watched as the judge explained that the court would take a brief recess and that all parties were to stay in the room. The silence in the room became unbearable and even awkward. He glanced at Anna, who simply shook her head and shot him a look of disgust. He turned to his lawyer, who was scribbling notes on a notepad. Luke leaned back in his chair, trying to get comfortable while the judge deliberated. Luckily, it wasn't long before the judge entered the room once again.

"After reading the letters of reference, listening to the testimony, and considering all circumstances, this court grants Mr. Danes partial custody of Miss April Nardini," the judge said.

While Luke turned to accept a congratulatory handshake from his lawyer, he could hear Anna's frustrated grumbling from across the table. He disregarded it, knowing that he would finally have a chance to get to know his daughter. The judge explained the custody agreement, asked both parties to stay and sign some papers, and finally ended the hearing. Luke walked out of the courtroom and sat down next to Lorelai, who was seated on the bench with headphones in her ears. She jumped, startled by his presence. Turning to him and putting the music player in her purse, she smiled.

"You look relieved," she said. "You don't look like Casper the not-so-friendly ghost anymore."

"April gets to stay with me for one week every month. That includes the week of half the major holidays," Luke explained.

Lorelai smiled, giving Luke a hug. "I'm so happy, Luke. This is great, you deserved it. Are you happy?"

He pulled back and nodded, running his hand through his hair. "I'm really, really happy," he said with a smile.

Lorelai took his hand. "Good," she said. "Next time she comes, April gets to decorate her room."

"She'll like that," Luke replied.

She smiled and patted Luke's knee. "Let's go celebrate."

"Dirty," Luke pointed out.

She laughed, putting her purse on her shoulder and standing up. "I didn't mean it like that, but if you're offering…"

"Oh, jeez," Luke replied, walking toward the door.

He was finally feeling his tension headache go away, and things were finally starting to sink in. This is exactly how things were supposed to go. Lorelai and Rory were no longer fighting, April was going to be a part of his life, and he and Lorelai were going to get married. Things were finally going his way.


	16. No More Missing Pieces

June third in Stars Hollow was like a national holiday for the majority of its citizens. Luke and Lorelai finally became husband and wife, much to the delight of everyone in the town. But it was safe to say that Luke was one of the happiest people in the town square that day. After being hugged, congratulated, and pinched by Miss Patty just a little too much, Luke excused himself to the gazebo for a few moments away from the crowd. He felt a tap on his shoulder as he took in the sights from the gazebo. He turned and smiled when he saw April standing behind him. "Hey, April," he said. "You look great."

"Thanks, you don't look so bad yourself. We haven't had much of a chance to talk today, things were kind of hectic, you know, with the 'you getting married' thing and all," she replied, brushing a bee away from her purple dress.

Luke chuckled. "Yeah, that's how weddings are, especially around here, pretty insane."

"The ceremony was so nice," April gushed, tucking a strand of her brown hair behind her ear. "Rory was bawling."

"Rory's a lot like her mother, really emotional," Luke explained.

April nodded. "Yeah, I did notice that. They're a lot alike."

"It's hard not to notice," Luke replied.

The two stood quietly for a moment, watching the reception go on. "So, uh, I heard you can waltz," April said, breaking the silence.

Luke rolled his eyes. "Lorelai told you about that, huh?"

"That's what happens when you stay up all night because Lorelai can't sleep the night before her wedding. It's funny, she was the only one that couldn't sleep. We all tried to go to sleep, but Lorelai wouldn't let us. We did karaoke and then we watched a movie, and had s'mores, until Lorelai decided to stop toasting the marshmallows in the oven and started playing Chubby Bunny. Chubby Bunny got a little old after Rory almost choked, so then we decided to just 'girl talk' and Lorelai said you could dance," April replied.

"Chubby Bunny?" Luke asked, raising his eyebrows. "Is that the game with the marshmallows, and you stuff them in your mouth?"

"Yeah," April replied. "I hate that game. Not my thing. But Lorelai and Rory were all over it. But that's not the point, the point is that she told me that you could dance."

"I'm not too bad," he insisted, clearing his throat.

"I don't know," April said, a hint of skepticism in her voice. "All I've heard is 'Luke can waltz, Luke can waltz' and I was wondering if I could be the judge."

"You're asking me to dance," Luke said.

April laughed. "Something like that."

"Sure," Luke replied, taking April's hand and walking onto the dance floor.

As they danced, April took a look around her and groaned when she saw all of the wedding guests pull out their cameras. "Sorry, I should have known that they were going to be all over us with pictures."

"It's okay, let them take pictures if they want to," Luke replied. "It's not like you could stop them from doing it, anyway."

"True," April said with a giggle. "But are they always this intense?"

"You get used to it after awhile," Luke explained. "You know who not to talk about your personal life with, and you know who you can trust. It's a crazy town, but once you get to know who to trust, it all works out in the end."

When the dance was over, April hugged Luke. She pulled back and gave him a smile. "Thanks for the dance, Dad," she said.

Luke nodded, trying not to flinch at being called 'Dad' for the first time. "You're welcome," he answered, watching as April went over to chat with Rory. Luke walked over to Lorelai, who had a similar smile on her face.

"You're lucky about seventy people got that moment on camera, or else I'd make you go back and do it again," she teased, giving him a peck on the cheek.

"She called me 'Dad,'" Luke said.

She smiled and linked her arm in his. "I heard. No hesitation, either. It's nice, huh?"

"Yeah," Luke replied. "I'm glad things worked out like they did. I mean, things didn't go smoothly all the time, but this is how things were supposed to end up."

"You're getting all sappy," Lorelai said with a laugh.

Luke shrugged, taking her hand. "Nah, I'm just glad things ended up this way. I appreciate your help."

"Nah," Lorelai said with a laugh. "It was all you. Maybe some Jess, but you too. Is April staying with Rory while we're away?"

He shook his head. "She's going home, but she'll be back for the dance marathon in a few weeks."

"She's entering the dance marathon? She's my competition?" Lorelai gasped.

Luke rolled his eyes. "She probably won't last as long as you, she's just doing it for fun. She's also snagged your dance partner."

"Rory?" Lorelai asked, her eyes widened as she glanced in her daughter's general direction. "My daughter and stepdaughter are conniving against me to overthrow me and take my trophy?"

"You're so dramatic," Luke replied. "It's just for fun and to raise money, you're being so competitive."

She pouted. "I don't have a dance partner now. Will you be my partner?"

"I guess I don't have a choice," he grumbled, putting his arm around her waist.

"Of course you do, you have the choice between hearing me whine about it, or sucking it up and dancing with me," Lorelai teased, patting him on the arm.

He leaned in and kissed her. "I choose the second one."

"Good job," Lorelai replied. "You got another dance in you, or are you taking off your dancing shoes?"

"I'll dance," Luke said, making his way to the dance floor once again. Out of the corner of his eye he caught Rory and April stealing the one time use cameras off of the tables nearby and taking abstract pictures with them. He nodded in their direction. "They got along well, huh?"

Lorelai laughed. "Rory's always wanted a sister. I knew she did when she asked Santa for one when she was four. She likes the idea."

"She going to be able to share you?" Luke asked.

"She learned how to share before the majority of her preschool class, I'd say she'll be fine," Lorelai replied.

Luke smiled. Finally, the puzzle that his life had become was nearing completion.

_The end_

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**A/N: Thank you to all who reviewed the story. I appreciate your support!  
**


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